Surprised
by writerofwrongs18
Summary: Crack Fic. What would Season 1 Beckett think of her Season 5 self?
1. Chapter 1

Surprised

**Crack Fic. What would Season 1 Beckett think of her Season 5 self?**

**This is such a crack fic but it's something I've thought about, and Terri's tweet from the 100****th**** episode got me writing. Somebody asked her what Season 1 Beckett would think of Season 5 Beckett to which she replied, 'I think she'd be surprised'. Lol, no doubt.**

**So basically this answers that question in more detail. This is set after 1x06, as I feel like Beckett knew enough about Castle at that point to inform this story, but not enough so that she wouldn't be totally taken aback by her future. **

**I've written before but it was a while back and couldn't remember my old account haha. This is my first Castle story. Anyway, enjoy!**

The detective strummed her fingers along her perfectly organised desk. Her files were stacked neatly to one side of her computer monitor, while her brand new pens rested by the keyboard. No pictures, no figurines, no personal touches. This could have been anyone at the precinct's desk.

Although, really it couldn't have. Ryan had post-it notes all over his monitor reminding him of all the odd jobs the less tech-savvy members of the 12th had assigned him. He would frequently scramble to find the right note when a shout was heard across the bullpen; "Ryan, you searched the database yet?". Nearly every time his mad rush was halted by the food crumbs caught between the keys in his keyboard, preventing him from typing properly. Esposito's desk was filled with pictures of his mom and 'smokin' hot' ex-girlfriends. Every other cop's desk had coffee stains or scattered paperwork, but not Kate Beckett's. Her world was structured and organised, and that rigidity carried over into her personal life.

Not being able to uncover one piece of information had completely changed Kate Beckett's life. Before her mother was killed, she was flexible. She had fun. She chased boys, she ditched studying to hang out with her friends some nights, she let herself marathon episodes of Nebula 9 and order pizza instead of being productive. Granted, she was a teenager, but those things wouldn't have changed much as she got older. But her mom was killed, and they never caught who did it.

Her mom. The woman who taught her how to be smart and funny and social, while also being able to have a geeky and silly and mischievous side. The woman who had informed the person Kate Beckett was, and always was supposed to be. She had been ripped away from this earth so senselessly, and with her she took the life Kate was supposed to have, and so much of the personality she had given to her.

A steaming hot mug of coffee was set in front of the detective, startling her out of her thoughts about her mother's killer. Pretty much the same thoughts she had every day.

"Castle, why are you here so early?" Beckett asked incredulously, knowing the writer would rather eat nothing but salad for a week than miss a minute of 'beauty sleep'. There was hardly even anyone in the precinct yet.

"Thought I'd help out with some of your paperwork before the day officially got started," Castle replied with that charming ease with which she found herself becoming accustomed. "I know how much you hate doing it."

"Really?" Beckett asked, almost letting herself be nicely surprised by the sentiment.

"No," Castle laughed. "I visited a lady-friend last night and wanted to get out of there before she woke up, she's a little crazy. Here was closer than home."

Beckett rolled her eyes.

"Are you ever going to act your age?" She asked bluntly.

"What's the fun in that?" He replied with a slight pitch in his voice, as he plopped down into his seat by her desk. "Drink your coffee, it'll get cold."

"So what, now you're going to sit down next to me for the day in yesterday's clothes without showering, hyped up on caffeine because you surely haven't got much sleep in the last 48 hours, annoying me at every moment because you've got nothing else to do?" Beckett felt a growing sense of frustration as she spoke.

"Yep." Castle replied with a grin. "Hey, maybe someone will die to spice things up for you".

Beckett simply flashed him her 'got no time for your shit' look that he was being accustomed with.

Castle got up and started heading towards the break room.

"Hey, where are you going? I thought you said you were going to help with the paperwork." Beckett asked.

"Getting real mixed messages here." Castle stated, using his hands as he spoke to make himself more animated. "Go away, you're annoying and you stink. Stay here, help me with my paperwork. But seriously, you had to know that was never going to happen."

Beckett repeated her eye roll. "Ugh, go."

She shook her head as she returned pen to paper. Why did he have to act like such a child? A child with extremely questionable ways to fill his nights. She could only imagine the kinds of women who threw themselves at him. No wonder he was so willing to get away; but she bet he never even gave them a chance to prove they were anything more than just a willing body on a mattress.

"Beckett!" The Captain's low voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, sir?"

"Go down to holding, would you? Dave isn't in yet and night guard has to go. Man the cells until he gets here." Montgomery gave her an apologetic look. "At least it's something other than paperwork."

She supposed he was right. She ran a hand through her short, dark hair as she got up and headed towards the elevator.

"Where are ya goin'?" She heard Castle's voice say just as his head popped out from the break room. She could have sworn he had another set of eyes to track her movements.

"Needed to get away from your foul stench."

With that, she stepped onto the elevator and rode it down to holding.

"Thanks Beckett," Johnny, the night guard, said as she entered. "Really need to get some sleep."

"No problem." She replied, surveying the few in the overnight cell. She glanced at the paperwork. A few drunk and disorderly, a guy who'd smashed a bottle over another guy's head in a bar, and a woman who'd been caught trying to break into a car. Great, she thought. This should be riveting.

She would never tell him, but Castle and one of his wild stories wouldn't go down too badly right now. Maybe just a brand new novel of his would be better. That way she could get the story without having to deal with the man, like she always used to. Ah, how she envied her self from two months ago. She had no idea the kind of annoyance she was in for.

"Hey, do you think we could get some food?" One of the drunk guys grumbled. "I swear I haven't eaten in like, 75 hours."

Clearly the effects of the alcohol had yet to dissipate.

"You'll live." She replied without care. "It's 7:15am. Pizza doesn't even deliver this early."

As soon as she spoke, the woman in the cell's head immediately snapped up. Beckett hadn't really noticed her before, but she didn't look like a common criminal. Certainly not like someone who would try and steal a car. Sure, her clothes were ragged and her hair was a mess, but she looked like the kind of girl who would have a respectable family waiting for her. Not somebody who would get involved with the wrong side of the law.

The girl's eyes were frantic and she quickly got up from the corner she was sitting in, which was as far away from her cellmates as possible, and rushed towards where Beckett was standing, halted only by the bars between them.

"Kate," she said. "You're Detective Kate Beckett, right?"

Beckett frowned and looked a little harder at the girl. She didn't recognise her at all. "Yes, I am. I'm sorry, how do you know me?"

"Oh, thank god." The girl breathed a sigh of relief. "You have to get me out of here."

"I certainly do not. I'm a cop, it's my job to keep you in there until somebody comes to bail you out." Beckett retorted, taken aback by the girl's words.

"No, you don't understand." The girl said with a pained expression. "Nobody is coming to bail me out. I'm not from here, I don't even know where my adopted family live at this time."

Now Beckett was really confused. The girl had looked frazzled, yes, but not crazy. She couldn't have been more than twenty. It was a shame.

"What do you mean 'at this time'?" Beckett asked.

"Like I said, I'm not from here." The girl said emphatically, as though she was trying to remind Beckett of something she already knew.

"You're not from New York?"

"No, I'm not from this _time_." The girl replied.

Okay, definitely crazy. "Please, just sit back down and stop wasting my time." Beckett, ever the realist, replied.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm really not wasting your time." The girl, whose name was Grace as Beckett read off the sheet before her, said with fear. "I'm not crazy, I promise. Please, just hear me out."

Beckett eyed the girl. Usually she would have ignored her, but something about this girl made her pay attention. She was too scared, too insistent, seemingly too familiar with Beckett herself to make the detective comfortable to leave her alone.

At that moment, Dave walked through the door.

"Sorry Beckett, my alarm didn't go off this morning." He said as he entered.

"Uh, no problem." Beckett replied. "This girl Grace just had her charges dropped so I'm going to walk her out."

"Are you sure? I can do it." Dave said.

"No, no. Really, it's fine." Beckett answered hastily as she opened the cell for Grace to exit. The blonde girl gave her a hopeful smile as they left the room.

Beckett quickly pulled Grace into a spare closed off cell once they were out of the others sight.

"You know." The girl said with a sense of such relief and joy that Beckett almost felt bad for what came out of her mouth next.

"I don't know you at all, but you better start talking before I take you back in there and tell Dave that there has been a mistake. How do you know me?" The detective asked with a stern glare.

Grace's smiled faded. "You don't. Not yet, anyway."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You help me, five years from now. My adopted brother is murdered and you're assigned to the case." Grace answers, almost resigned to the fact that Beckett isn't going to believe her.

'What?' is the only thing Beckett can think. Before she can say anything, Grace interrupts her.

"Please, I know it sounds insane but just listen to me." Grace urges. "My brother, he got caught up with the wrong guys at this time and when he tries to leave them behind in the future they don't let him. He's adopted, just like me. Our parents are some of the only ones who take teenagers in. They helped him see that he was throwing his life away. But these guys, they prey on kids like him. Get them when they are in their early teens, totally reckless and without any sort of supervision, and make them do something stupid to be initiated into their gang. They made my brother steal a car."

"So it runs in the family." Beckett interrupted, thinking the girl was completely crazy at this point.

"No, I stole the car before my brother could." Grace said. "You see, he never steals the car, he never gets involved with those guys so he never gets killed."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Beckett asks, exasperated now. Seriously, all she wanted was a stress free day. First Castle and his general idiocy, and now this.

"Like I said, you're on the case. You are the one who figures out that they killed my brother. Well, you and your boyfriend."

"Grace, I'm sorry to tell you this, but this is all part of your imagination and I –"

"No!" Grace cuts Beckett off. "It's not! Please, it's not. Your mother was killed when you were nineteen!"

Beckett meets the girl's eye. She's stunned.

"I'm sorry, that was horrible." Grace berates herself. "I just need you to believe me. I know who you are, you know me. You tell me about what happened to you, to your mom, when you are investigating my brother's case. You tell me a few things about yourself actually."

"Like what?" Beckett asks, a little spooked. She doesn't know what to make of any of this.

"Like," the girl falters for a moment. "You had a wild child phase in your teens where you got this tattoo that your parents went crazy about. And if you weren't a cop, you would have been a lawyer. And your boyfriend used to drive you totally crazy but now you are so in love with him and it's like, the cutest thing ever."

Beckett stares at Grace for a moment. She has no idea what she's talking about in regards to her last statement but the first two were a bit freaky.

"Lot's of people have wild child phases," Beckett tries to brush her off. "And all you would have to do is look up my university records to see that I was studying law."

"But I didn't do that. You told me." Grace says, begging to be believed. "Just like you told me that you always wished you had a brother, because your dad took you to so many baseball games as a kid that you ended up wearing team jersey's to school for all of seventh grade which was a highly embarrassing thing to do."

Beckett looked at Grace, and her expression softened. "How do you…"

"Please, Kate. Please believe me." Grace said, tears brimming. "You're my only chance to make sure my brother lives."

"What do I have to do with it?" Beckett asks, trying to get a grip on reality.

"We agreed, you and me in the future, that you would arrest the guys who kill my brother before they can beat him up for not stealing the car."

"And how were you planning on convincing me of this? I'm still not convinced, at all. You could just be incredibly perceptive." Beckett was lying to herself, and she knew it. But her rational mind wouldn't allow her to believe the situation.

"By having your future-self talk to you." Grace replied. "I brought you with me".

"What do you mean?" Beckett retaliated. "And how on earth do you just come back? What, does science really advance that much in five years?"

"No, this has nothing to do with science." Grace replies seriously. "It's to do with magic."

Beckett rolls her eyes. Okay, she's had enough.

"No," Grace grabs her arm to hold her in place. "My mother, my real mother, was what she would call 'an interpreter of the natural world' but what most would simply call a witch. She could make things happen, she knew how to alter time. And it cost her her life. But she left me a set of instructions, for only absolutely dire circumstances, on how to alter it myself if I ever needed to. I never really believed it. I mean as a kid I did, but as I got older I realised she was probably a little crazy. But when Tommy died, I figured 'why not?', you know? What did I have to lose? Nothing at that point. So I tried it. I only went back a day at first, to see if it really worked, and I was scared of not being able to return. But it did work."

Becket shook her head, trying to take in the information being thrown at her. "So where do I factor into this?"

"I told you about it, the time travelling thing. And you pretty much had the same reaction you're having now. I guess that side of you hasn't changed. But when I insisted that you at least give me the chance to show you I wasn't lying, you agreed obviously thinking nothing was going to happen. But it worked, and I brought you back here with me." Grace explained.

"So, where am I then?" Beckett asked, still not believing Grace's story.

"You're at your dad's. You said that as long as you wore a hat, he wouldn't notice the difference. He doesn't pay much attention to your looks."

Okay, Beckett thought, another point to Grace for that one. But then again, a lot of dad's were the same way. Although, she bet Castle would notice if Alexis had so much as an extra freckle.

"And we aren't together because?"

"Because I had to get to the car before Tommy did, and you needed to be able to arrest the guys. And then you needed to be able to convince your past, or I guess present, self that they needed to be put in jail and all that because it's not like you can arrest five gangsters all by yourself. I mean you're awesome and everything, but come on. Plus you would need officers to come pick them up and take them to the station and everything."

Okay this, if Beckett dared to think it, was starting to make a bit more logical sense. If you could call believing in time travel logical.

"The whole me being arrested thing was not part of the plan, but just my luck, a cop surveying the area saw me right as I was breaking in. Seasoned criminal, I am not." Grace added.

"So, what? You're just expecting me to let you off on a felony charge to take you to my dad's house where you will probably just escape simply because of a few good guesses?" Beckett asked.

"No," Grace responded. "We have to steal the car first. I never got around to moving it, and my brother will be there tonight."

Beckett sighed. "This is crazy. There is no way I'm helping you steal a car. You've just made up this story so you can get away with what you originally wanted without doing any jail time. Points for cleverness, but no way."

Grace gripped Beckett's arms on both sides. "Fine, don't believe me. You told me you wouldn't anyway. Call your dad's house, that's all I ask. You can even lock me back up with those derelicts in there while you do it."

Beckett eyed the girl for a moment then let out an exasperated sigh. "I swear, I almost want you to be telling the truth just so that this won't have been a huge waste of my time." She said as she got out her phone and dialled her dad's home number.

Grace smiled as it rang. After three rings, her call was answered.

"Hello?" A voice, all too familiar, said.

"Hello?" Beckett asked back, now unsure of everything she knew.

She heard a gasp on the other end. "It's you, isn't it?"

There was no mistaking it now, that was definitely her voice on the other end of the telephone line. Beckett felt like she might have a stroke.

"Don't you mean, me?"

**Sorry to be annoying and end it there, but I feel like that chapter just needed to introduce the story and then I could get onto the more fun stuff. So sorry if that was a bit tedious to read, more to come soon! Please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

**Woah! Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed/favourited/followed this story. I really thought it'd get about 2 responses, so coming back and seeing that was super nice! I'm going to try and update every few days, but I am quite busy so if I don't always meet that deadline please don't hate me! I'll try my best regardless.**

**For those wondering, Castle will be involved in the story. Don't worry :)**

**Also, I'm going to refer to Season 1 Kate as 'Beckett' and Season 5 Kate as 'Kate' to avoid confusion. Enjoy!**

A million thoughts were running through Beckett's mind as she drove Grace to essentially steal a car. She had just had a phone conversation with her future self. Albeit a very short one, but still. Was she going mad? Was this all some elaborate prank Castle had put on? She wouldn't put it past him.

"There." Grace said, as she pointed to a shiny black Mercedes resting in an alley. "That's the car."

"That's the car?!" Beckett was shocked. She had expected some beat-up, might-as-well-take-it-to-be-impounded type contraption, not _that_.

"Yeah. It wouldn't be impressive to steal if it were a piece of shit nobody would miss, would it?" Grace responded, in a tone that said _obviously_. "Also, it's the car of the leader of the rival gang so it scores Tommy like, major points with the guys."

"Are you sure you want to do this? What if you get caught?" Beckett asked, suddenly feeling the need to protect the girl she had spent the past hour believing was crazy.

"It's fine. I'm from the future, remember?" Grace reminded her. "The guy whose car that is and his gang are all at some drag race thing today in New Jersey. They aren't even back until tomorrow."

"And he's just leaving a car like that out in the open?"

Grace smiled at Beckett, tilting her head to one side. "You're a real straight and narrow Manhattan girl, aren't you?"

Beckett gave Grace a look that implied offence.

"I meant it as a compliment. You're lucky. I'd much rather be somebody who didn't know how these kind of neighbourhoods operated. Yes, they leave their cars out in the open. It's a sign of their superiority and power, if you will. They want people to fear them, and so they do. Nobody around here would be caught dead stealing something of theirs, or else you know…they will actually end up dead."

"Got it." Beckett nodded. Despite was Grace might think, she did know a thing or two about gangs. She had been a cop for over six years, and working in vice had taught her a lot about things she never wanted to know. "So you know what you're doing?"

"Yep, don't worry about me." Grace said with a smile, now with a confident air about her instead of the frightened, frazzled one Beckett had seen earlier. She was starting to see why her future self had taken a liking to the girl.

Oh, God. She was actually starting to believe this madness.

"Go, meet your future self, have a chat about stuff. I think you'll be interested." Grace said with a knowing smirk as she stepped out of the car. "I bought a phone just after I got here, and I put the number in your phone if you need me. But I'll be back at your dad's when I'm done."

"What about me arresting the guys?" Beckett asked.

"That's not until late tonight. We have plenty of time." Grace replied, then shut the door and walked confidently in the direction of the car.

Beckett watched for a moment as the girl fiddled around in her backpack, then realised she was a cop sitting and watching a crime being committed. She needed to get out of there. Grace would be fine.

At least she desperately hoped she would.

The drive to her dad's didn't take long and Beckett didn't know what she was going to find once she got there. If this whole thing were true, did she even _want_ to meet her future self? Wouldn't knowing what was going to happen alter the future and all that? There had been a million movies on that type of thing, and Beckett was pretty sure all of them ended with showing that you shouldn't know your future. And what if she hated it?

What if, and this was what Beckett was afraid of most, she was exactly the same? Obviously she was still a homicide detective and that was something she was fine with, but what if nothing else had changed? She still didn't have any answers about her mom, she still had no social life outside of work, she still didn't have anybody to come home to. Beckett's heart was beating rapidly as she thought about it. It was what she was preparing herself for. Meeting her future self, only to realise that she might as well be talking to the mirror.

She pulled up to the familiar white weatherboard house and took a deep breath and she turned off the engine. It's now or never.

Beckett walked up to the front door and knocked. She felt weird knocking, she had a key, but it just felt like the right thing to do. It was like she was meeting a stranger in there. This was somebody she didn't know yet. _Or maybe, _she thought to herself, _you know her completely and that's what's really terrifying._

Beckett heard strong footsteps on the other side of the door, obviously made by high heels. She took another deep breath as the door swung open and met the eyes of the person on the other side, which were a few inches above her own.

Well, one thing was certain already, she was certainly _not _looking in a mirror.

"Uh, hi." Her older self said almost breathlessly.

Beckett couldn't even respond. What?! She was hot!

Beckett was never one to place a high priority on beauty, especially not as a female cop, but she was also well aware of the fact that she wasn't bad to look at. It changed nothing about the way she treated others or did her job, it was sort of just something she knew. She couldn't stand people who would pretend like they didn't know they were perceived as attractive by others in order to gain compliments. But this, this was a whole new thing. She looked like a damn supermodel! Beckett didn't like it.

Sure, she looked awesome in her designer sweater, black skinny jeans and heeled boots that she hoped to God were not worn on the job. But she was a cop, not a model. She needed to be respected and not treated like she had only got to where she was because of her looks, not by using her brains or hard work.

"Uh, quick, come in." Kate said, rushing her inside. "We don't want anyone to see us."

Beckett was still too stunned to say anything. How can this be real?

"So…" Kate didn't know what to say. She couldn't even believe she was here herself. She thought she was simply humouring Grace when she agreed to 'go back in time' with her. The sceptic in her was having an incredibly difficult time believing the situation. Based on the look on her former self's face, she could see that that was definitely something that had not changed about her. "You met Grace?"

Beckett nodded. "Ye..Yeah. I can't believe this is happening."

"You and me both." Kate agreed. "Or I guess it's just me, or just you."

The two Kate's looked at each other, both eyes wide and feeling insane.

"Let's sit." Kate said after a long pause, gesturing to the couch. "So Grace explained the whole situation to you?"

"Uh, yeah she did. Going to arrest the guys late tonight. I have to order my team as back up." Beckett rattled off.

"Yeah." Kate said.

Then there was silence. The two just looked at one another, both clearly taking notes while at the same time feeling incredibly insecure wondering what their other self was thinking.

"This is so silly." Kate finally said. "We are the same person. This shouldn't be awkward!"

She then let out a laugh, and Beckett managed to laugh with her.

"You're right." Beckett replied. "We can't be too serious in the situation we are in."

Kate smiled. She was proud of her 29-year-old self. Her years with Castle had made her more accepting of being placed in crazy situations, but she remembered being the girl sitting before her. She was in no way accustomed to anything out of the ordinary. Kate was suddenly struck by how far she had come looking at her younger self. She realised she was looking at her like she were a different person.

And that was because she was. Kate wasn't much like her at all anymore, and she was glad. When she was 29, she was so lonely. She never had fun. It was like she was punishing herself for not being able to find her mother's killer. Punishing herself for the fact that she had been killed at all. Which was ridiculous, she knew. She even knew that then. But being closed off had become second nature to her, and she didn't know how to change.

"So come on, surely you're curious about me." Kate smiled, trying to provide some reassurance.

Beckett looked at Kate with fear. "Won't it change my future if I find out about it?"

Kate smiled. Some things never change. She had asked Grace the exact same question as soon as they'd arrived. The girl knew how to make her young self forget. There was no way Kate would have agreed to this otherwise. She wasn't putting the life she had now in danger for anything.

"Don't worry. You'll forget everything once it's over. I don't remember being you in this situation, so you must."

Beckett let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, okay good."

"So, what do you want to know? Or if I could, what do you think of me?" Kate asked, genuinely curious. Sure, she remembered being 29 but her 33-year-old mindset confused the way she remembered her past-self thinking.

"Honestly," Beckett hesitated for a moment. "What the hell? Where are the cop clothes? You obviously still are one. And the hair! I mean, I admit it looks great but we aren't looking to be America's Next Top Model."

Kate laughed. "Thank God Castle's not here, he would have loved that."

"Castle?" Beckett asked with a frown. "Wait, he is _still _following you around? Are you joking?"

_Shit, _Kate thought_, should've eased into that one. _

"Oh, uh yeah. Don't look so disgusted in me, he's not as bad as you think." Kate tried to hide her smile.

"Not as bad as I think?" Beckett's voice rose. "You mean he's not a childish egoist who acts like he's on the Bachelor?"

Kate couldn't contain her grin now. "No, he pretty much is still that. But there's a lot more to him, things you are yet to learn. And those sides of him you do know, well they too are different than what you think."

Beckett stared at Kate with an expression of utter confusion, but something about the way her older self spoke when she talked about him stopped her from continuing to berate her. But seriously, four years?! He was still bothering her in FOUR years? By the look on Kate's face though, it didn't seem like he was really annoying her.

"What time am I exactly in here? As in, what was the last case you solved?" Kate asked. "I know it's April 2009, but that's about it."

"Uh, the last case was the voodoo murder. Castle and I were shot at in a woman's apartment." Beckett tried to go for the most easily remembered things about the case. It had been four years for Kate after all.

"Oh," Kate said with a knowing smile. "The deep fried twinkie case."

Beckett snapped her head towards Kate. "You still remember that?"

"You really think you _won't_ remember that in four years?" Kate asked with a smile that said she knew more than she was letting on. She was beginning to have fun. Normally a reserved sort of person, talking to herself made it a lot easier to open up and be honest. So if she was finally going to be honest with herself about her what her feelings had been for the past four years, she might as well do it now. Besides, she was kind of interested in how her former self was reacting.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Beckett asked, afraid of the answer.

"Come on, I was you remember." Kate teased. "You can't say you weren't at least the slightest bit annoyed when you found out Castle had slept with his ex-wife."

Beckett went to deny it, but then remembered she was talking to herself. There really was no point in lying. It was strange to open up even to herself though, because Beckett hadn't just been lying to everyone else about her feelings. She'd also been lying to herself. She wouldn't even let herself think about Castle for too long a time. She didn't want to even remotely enjoy his company.

"Fine, I guess." Beckett sunk back into the couch. "I don't even know why though. It just annoyed me."

"Yeah, I know." Kate said with a soft smile.

Succumbing to her vulnerability in this situation, while also managing to change the topic, Beckett looked up at her future self and asked quietly, "Are you happy?"

Kate's smile dropped for a moment as she adjusted to the new mood in the room, before it returned in full force. "I'm the happiest I've ever been."

Beckett watched her face, and the way her eyes crinkled on the sides while she tucked her head into her neck in an almost embarrassed way affirmed that Kate was telling the truth.

"How?" She asked softly. "How can you be so happy? You're happier than when mom was alive?"

Kate met the 29-year-old's eye. "Yes." She said confidently. "Not as carefree, and much more aware of the horror the world can hold. But yes, I am the happiest I have ever been. And it's because I've accepted it. What happened to her, nothing will ever change that. No amount of justice will. And she wouldn't have wanted me to live the life you're living now forever. She never would have wanted me to live it at all. But a lot has happened in the last four years. And I've still got a long way to go, but I'm at a point now where the future looks bright instead of bleak and filled with emptiness."

Beckett's heart lifted. That's what she wanted more than anything in the world. To be happy; to accept what had happened and move on. She knew her mother wouldn't be happy with the way she was living her life now, and it pained her greatly. But she didn't know how to change, and that was what was worrying her about Kate. How did she change? Because she just can't seem to fathom how the person before her could possibly be who she becomes in four years, as much as she might want her to be.

"How do you change?" She asks.

"It's gradual." Kate responds. "And I think a part of you already knows."

Beckett didn't understand what Kate was getting at.

"What do you mean? I have no idea how I come to be you. That's why I'm asking."

"Castle." Kate simply stated.

"Castle, what?"

"He's the reason behind the change." Kate says with a steady breath. "Not to say that I needed a man to help me get better, or that it's his actions that have got me here, but more like his presence in my life made me see everything I was missing and everything I wanted. It made me realise that I miss the person I was supposed to be, if that makes any sense at all."

Beckett sat back and listened to Kate with a half horrified, half dumb-founded feeling in her chest.

"Is Castle," Beckett faltered, frowning as she spoke. "Is he your _boyfriend_?"

Kate couldn't do anything but smile at Beckett. She knew how she must be feeling and what was coming as soon as she confirmed the relationship.

"Yes, he's my boyfriend."

Beckett's jaw dropped, eyes darting side to side as she thought. _Her boyfriend? He was her boyfriend? She gives into that egotistical bastard? No! She was supposed to be one of the women who stayed strong, who resisted the charms of the womaniser. Made him realise he couldn't always have what he wanted. Damn it, he was going to make so much fun of her for this._

Beckett looked up and realised Kate was studying her reaction to the news. "Why? How could you let him?" The question's just poured out of Beckett's mouth. "He's not serious about _anything_. It would never work. I mean, I know he's not repulsive in the physical sense and I'm sure all the practise he's had makes him a good time in the bedroom but seriously? I don't have time for someone like him."

Kate was trying not to laugh. She loved this. She thought she was going to hate it, but she totally loved this. She had spent so much time focusing on how much she'd changed in the past four years, she'd forgotten about how much her view of Castle had also changed the more she grew to know him. He was so different than what she'd thought in the beginning. Her heart tightened in her chest as she thought about him. She completely loved him. It made her feel warm.

"Why are you laughing?" Beckett asked, frustrated.

"I'm sorry. I'd just forgotten how much I detested him in the beginning." Kate answered. "But let's be honest, right from the get-go, even though he was incredibly annoying, he was always pretty fun, wasn't he?"

Beckett tried to deny it, but she'd grown used to the openness she'd found with her future self in their short conversation. "I guess."

She skulked back into the couch, still digesting the news. "Does he make fun of me for being with him?"

"What?" Kate asked genuinely confused. "Make fun of us? Why would he do that?"

"I mean, I can just imagine him being so smug about it." Beckett explains while her facial muscles tighten in annoyance as she speaks. "You know, about how I couldn't resist. How he's the most attractive man in the world..."

Kate let a laugh erupt out of her mouth. "It's funny, you're clearly thinking of him as the person you know him as now. Time changes everything. He can be serious, deadly even. And he's not as much of a ladies man as you think either. I came to know that pretty slowly. Lot's of women like him, but he doesn't take notice of the majority."

Kate waits a moment, then adds, "But you're right. There is a bit of teasing. He's quite adamant that I fell for him first. We both know that's a lie."

Beckett snorts. "Please."

"But he would never seriously make fun of us being together. He's quite serious about our relationship." Kate says. "At least, I can feel that he is. We have fun lots of the time, but if I'm being honest, he's the one that has always been more forthcoming and responsible when it comes to us."

Beckett couldn't get her head around that Kate was talking about the same guy who just this morning came into the precinct in yesterday's clothes because he wanted to avoid talking to the woman he'd slept with the night prior.

"Do you love him?" She asked shakily, almost afraid of the answer. She's never let herself really love anyone since her mom died. Always kept just enough distance to avoid the inevitability of being hurt again.

"I do." Kate replied softly. "And he loves me back."

"Who said it first?" Beckett questioned, not really knowing the answer. Her gut feeling was that she would never have said it to him first, but she couldn't imagine the Castle she knew saying it first either. And there was something about him, something about that way he could sneakily make her have fun while on the job even though she was supposed to be hating him that made Beckett think it was probably quite easy for her to fall in love with him eventually. And maybe one day she had just come out and said it.

"Oh, he did." Kate said, kind of embarrassed. "Long before I did. And a few times too."

Beckett let out a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding in. "Really?"

Kate could see in her younger self's eyes that she was truly surprised. It was hard to remember exactly how she used to see Castle, now that she knew so much about him.

"Yeah, really. Like I keep saying, he's different than what you think."

"Tell me about him them. What don't I know yet?" Beckett asked as she sat up straight, ready to hear how she came to be so in love with the man who was currently driving her insane.

Before Kate could say a word however, a crash came from the kitchen followed by a deep voice saying "Ouch!"

"What was that? Is dad here?" Beckett asked, eyes wide. "I thought he would be at work."

"He is." Kate responded, suddenly terrified. "Quick one of us needs to hide."

"Kate!" A voice rang out. Castle's voice.

Suddenly Kate's terror faded and was replaced by mild confusion. "Castle?"

Beckett however, was even more startled than before. What was Castle doing here? He couldn't see the two of them together! She could only imagine what his writer's brain would do, not to mention the inappropriate remarks he would undoubtedly make. And why had he called her Kate? He had never called her that.

That question was answered as soon as Beckett saw the man appear from around the corner. He wasn't the Castle she knew. He was Kate's Castle.

"Castle," Kate said in a breathless worry. "What are you doing here?"

She was in his arms before Beckett could even register what was happening.

"I didn't know what to do. You just disappeared, so I just tried to do the same thing as I saw Grace doing and voila!" Castle said. "I'm here."

He was so relieved. While it had been a couple hours for Kate, it had only been a few minutes for Castle but they had been a frightening few minutes. He had yet to notice Beckett standing sheepishly in the corner watching them.

"You shouldn't have done that." Beckett said into his chest as she hugged him.

"Are you kidding? How cool is this?!" Castle exclaims in that high pitched tone she has come to love. "We just went back in time! Or did we just teleport? And if so, why did we teleport to your dad's? Think we could have picked a more exotic location."

Kate brought her head back from his chest to roll her eyes and him and suppress a smile.

It was then that Castle looked towards Beckett and saw that they had indeed travelled back in time. When he'd seen her figure in the corner of his eye, he had just assumed she was Grace.

"Oh my god."

All Beckett could do was stare as Castle gave her the once over.

"No. Way." He breathed excitedly. "I'd forgotten how cute you were in your strict police clothes!"

Kate nudged Castle in the ribs. It was weird how she felt the need to protect her young self, as though she were her mother or something. She knew at 29, she would not have been able to stand that. She could look after herself. She still felt that way.

"Hi." Castle said to Beckett, waving a hand at her like she was some kind of alien or robot who he wasn't sure would understand him.

"Hi." Beckett said back, in a sharp yet unsure tone.

Castle smirked. "Oh, I'd forgotten how much you used to pretend to hate me. Hey, it's good you're here. Now we can finally settle this debate."

Beckett couldn't believe how easily he could adjust to the circumstances, the way he was talking so animatedly. "Settle what debate?"

"You have already fallen for me, haven't you?"

Kate scoffed.

**Please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

**You guys are all the sweetest ever and I love you! Thanks so much again. I'm so glad you're all liking it. I have a plan for the story so don't worry I know where it's going and I hope you'll all like the journey.**

Beckett watched as her future self and Castle embraced. Her face was nuzzled into his chest, her fingers tight on his back as they hugged. His cheek was pressed into her hair while he spoke tenderly into her ear, one arm wrapped around the back of her neck and the other on the small of her back pinning her to him. There was so much love in that hug, so much genuine worry and care. Beckett could only watch, as if it were a movie, totally mesmerised by their affection for one another.

She had never been a hugger with any of her boyfriends. Only with her parents. The Kate before her looked like she knew them well.

Fear struck Beckett hard in the chest as she saw Castle's eyes turn towards her. His eyebrows lifted and he began to look her up and down, loosening his grip on Kate.

"Oh my god. No. Way." He breathed excitedly. "I'd forgotten how cute you were in your strict police clothes!"

He was talking as though she were a doll in a museum, someone to observe but who could not hear him. She suddenly felt extremely insecure under his perceptive gaze, especially since he was used to the model-like way she looked now.

She saw Kate nudge him in the stomach. It was the more affectionate version of pulling on his nose or ear. At least she still recognised his annoying ways. Kate had spent the last half hour telling Beckett how much Castle had changed but he seemed pretty much the same guy from what Beckett could see.

"Hi." He said, waving his hand slowly in front of her face.

"Hi." She responded, wanting to sound unimpressed but a dreamy quality mixed in with her tone.

"Oh, I'd forgotten how much you used to pretend to hate me. Hey, it's good you're here. Now we can finally settle this debate."

Pretend? God, he was so arrogant! How could she actually be with this guy? If only he knew what she really thought of him now.

"Settle what debate?"

"You've already fallen for me, haven't you?" Castle asked with that self assured smirk.

Kate scoffed, hit him in the arm and then rolled hey eyes at him.

"Don't answer that." She directed at Beckett.

"Ah, afraid that she'll reveal what we both know has been the truth all along and then you won't get to sit on your high horse anymore?" Castle teased.

"Yeah right!" Kate said. "I'm just trying to spare _your _feelings because based on the conversation we just had, she's harsher than I remember being. But by all means, tell him what you think Kate."

Beckett looked at Kate, and for a moment drew her thoughts away from Castle as she pondered the fact that she had called her Kate. She supposed it made sense, nobody called her that now but she had always thought of herself as Kate. She then returned her thoughts and body to Castle.

"Fallen for you?" Beckett said, voice laced with disgust. "I cannot stand you. You never listen, roll calls during attack strikes, make inappropriate comments all day long, act like a twelve year old, and are completely insensitive to the suspect's or victim's families feelings. I'm waiting for the day you finish your damn book so you can get the hell out of my hair."

Kate was trying not to laugh, while Castle's eyebrows raised and mouth turned into the shape of an O. "Ooooh. Harsh Detective."

Beckett took a breath as she recomposed herself.

"But I know you're just pretending to hate me. Sure those things annoy you, I'll give you that. But you also love them, and you find me really fun. You even tell me so…next year I think it is? I quote 'I have a hard job Castle, and having you around just makes it a little more fun'." He said with a proud grin.

"Come on, you can't use that against me at this stage! That's a whole year from now, my opinion of you had changed. At this stage, " Kate pointed towards Beckett. "I clearly can't stand you."

Castle just shook his head, smirking all the while.

"She's right, I hate you." Beckett backed her future self up.

"Ouch! Not so harsh Detective! I'm a man with feelings here!" Castle said, feigning hurt. Kate made eye contact with Beckett and shook her head at his antics, but Beckett could see her suppressed smile sitting on her lips.

"Tell me then, if you hate me so much, why'd you tell me about your mom's murder?" Castle asked a little more seriously. "I'm assuming by this point you've told me that as it was really early on in our partnership, but I know for a fact that's not something you share willingly. Even with people you genuinely like."

Beckett narrowed her eyes towards him. "I told you that to get you off my back about the watch. You were the one asking questions! When you presumed it was my dad who was killed, I got angry because you thought you had me all figured out and you were wrong. I thought you might as well have the facts straight if you were going to be an ass about it."

Kate gave Castle a disapproving look. "See?"

Castle pursed his lips, looked between Kate and Beckett, then shrugged. "Nope. You totally love me, I'll have you admitting it soon enough."

He gave Becket a wink to which she replied to with a grimace.

"So I guess seeing as you are still hell bent on pretending to hate me a threesome is out of the question?"

Kate hit Castle in the arm. "Don't be gross."

He laughed. "Come on, I wasn't serious. How could I be in this situation and not ask that question?"

Beckett couldn't believe Kate was smiling at that. She didn't see the change in him at all. The only difference she did see was in the way they felt about each other.

"Now that you're here we are going to have to move." Kate said to Castle. "My dad is coming home tonight, and he won't understand why you're here. We could go to my apartment but I only have the one bedroom and if we're stuck here for longer than a day, we are going to need a place the two of us and Grace to sleep as well."

"That's a good point." Castle nodded. "I'll book a hotel room."

Kate smiled at him as he dialled a number into his phone. Beckett's spine tingled. It was such a weird thought that the two of them were booking a hotel room, where they would sleep in the same bed. They were so comfortable. She couldn't imagine being like that with Castle now. The hairs stood up on her arms every time they were closer than a foot away from one another.

"That reminds me, my apartment." Kate said, turning towards Beckett.

"What about it?" Beckett asked.

"Uh," Kate stumbled on her words, trying to come up with a gentle way to say it. "Let's just say, that's not where I am living anymore. Do me a favour though, put those Jimmy Choo's we love and my DVD collection in storage before we leave and you forget about all this? I'll be very grateful."

Beckett frowned. "Why?"

"I really don't think it'd be best for me to tell you." Kate said. "Kind of an unnecessary worry right now."

Beckett nodded slowly. That didn't sound good, but she could understand the point Kate was making. She had to trust herself, right?

Kate didn't want to bother Beckett with too many of the big or horrible details of the future. She'd only forget about it soon, and there was no changing them. It's why she hadn't brought up her mother's case. She knew with all the information she had learnt between when she was the girl standing before her and whom she was now, it would be too much for Beckett to handle all at once. It definitely would distract her from the mission at hand. Maybe later, when they are alone again, she'll let her know they make some good headway and it's no longer such a huge weight in her life anymore.

Castle returned. "Got the penthouse suite at the Peninsula. There are two bedrooms."

"Nice." Kate said with a smile, remembering the other time they had stayed in that room. It was his present to her to make up for not getting her anything for Christmas. "But how are you going to pay? Surely you'd have a new credit card by now."

"Yeah, I do but I still remember my old numbers." Castle said. "And they know me there, we'll be fine."

Kate nodded and relaxed. "Okay well we might as well get going. We don't have any luggage though. It'll be weird when we check in. We should buy some clothes."

"I can go home and bring you some." Beckett offered. It's not like it was even sharing.

"Right, yeah." Kate replied with a shake of her head, and then laughed. "Of course, thanks. I think I have a couple of Will's old shirts and things in that apartment too, don't I?"

"Woah, no!" Castle interrupted. "You can wear your old self's clothes, but I cannot wear your old boyfriend's clothes. Ew, creepy. No. I'll buy myself some stuff at the hotel, thank you very much."

"Whatever." Kate laughed. Trust Castle to have a big problem with wearing Will's clothes in a situation like this. "What about my dad's stuff? He won't miss anything."

Castle just gave Beckett his 'Seriously?' look.

She smiled and shook her head. "Okay, okay. Whatever, let's just go."

Beckett dropped them off at the hotel first before heading back to her place. She waited in the car for Castle to come out and give her a key to get in when she came back and then drove home. She was grateful for a bit of alone time, she needed to process everything that had just happened.

Kate and Castle were shown into the suite and as soon as they were alone, Castle turned to her and shrieked, "How cool is this?!"

Kate laughed. "This is so strange Castle. I can't believe that was who I used to be now. She's like a faded version of me or something."

"You were so cute. And look how she came to your defence, helping carry on the charade that she didn't already like me. So sweet, past and present selves bonding like that."

"Oh, shut up! I didn't like you and you know it. It's time you accepted the fact." Kate teased back.

"Never, because it's not true. And you," He said pointing his index finger in her face before placing his hands on her waist and drawing her in. "know it. It's time _you_ admitted it."

"Never." Kate whispered as she drew her mouth towards his with a smile. They kissed softly for a moment before slightly pulling apart, her arms still around his neck with barely an inch between their noses.

"I feel like we should warn the world about things, you know." Castle said to her in a sudden serious tone. "Like the BP Oil Spill, or WikiLeaks, or Bieber Fever."

Kate rolled her eyes at the last one. "We can't. We don't know what changing those things will do to the future."

"Yeah, I know. But still." He said with that little boy look on his face that Kate loved. She bumped their noses together.

"I know."

He was a seriously good man, despite what her past self and the newspapers might think. Sure, he was a grown man who still loved video games and believed in Bigfoot and aliens, but when it came down to it he had a heart of gold. He cared deeply about the good of humanity, and the safety of others. Yet another reason Kate loved him.

They stood there for a while, breathing each other in with their eyes closed before Kate broke the silence.

"We probably should stay indoors. We don't want to risk people seeing and recognising us, and then noticing the differences."

"I think I'll be a little safer in that regard than you." Castle joked.

"True, but we don't want someone seeing one Richard Castle then going across town and seeing another."

Castle suddenly sprang back from Kate. "Oh my god, I totally forgot the old me is walking around here too. I was so caught up in seeing the old you, I actually forgot about that! Please can we visit me? I'd love to see the look on my face when I find out that I get you eventually."

"_Get _me?" Kate asks incredulously, eyebrows raised.

"Well, you know, am with you. You're not property, I know that. But you know what I mean. I'll be so stoked to know that you're my girlfriend eventually."

"Really?" Kate said. "At this time, I'm not so sure about that. I mean, you'll be happy we're sleeping together but together together? I don't know."

Castle smiled. "You don't give the old me enough credit."

"So you admit it then?" Kate asked with a sudden bright smile on her face.

"Admit what?"

"That you liked me from the start! I win!" Kate said with glee, arms raised in the air.

"No! No, you don't win." Castle tried to backtrack as his forehead pinched with the realisation of the mistake he'd just made.

"I totally do, Castle. And also, no to visiting yourself. I can only handle one of you at most times, I especially can't deal with two in this sort of situation. Besides, it'll just make things more complicated."

Castle pouted, both for the fact that Kate had thought she'd won the 'who liked who first' argument, and because he really wanted to visit himself.

"Don't think this argument is over." He said rather gravely as he sat down on the luxurious couch.

Kate could only smile and kink her eyebrow at him in response.

"Don't look so sad, are you forgetting that we just time travelled?" She said as she leaned forward and rested her hands on his thighs.

Castle's face brightened. "Yeah. This is awesome. Would be more awesome if we could go outside though."

"Well, I don't know Castle." Kate breathed seductively as she leaned further into him. "There are lots of fun things we can do inside."

Castle couldn't argue with that. He leaned back fully on the couch, bringing her on top of him as his fingers immediately slipped under the hem of her shirt. She smiled into his mouth, taking his bottom lip between her teeth as she worked the buttons of his shirt. One snapped off.

"Careful." He said. "This is my only shirt right now, remember?"

Kate snapped another button off mischievously. "Hmm, that's a shame."

They laughed as Castle brought her shirt over her head. Just as she was slipping his off his shoulders, they heard the door open.

"Woah! Sorry!" A deep, all too familiar voice sounded.

Kate and Castle looked up in horror, only to find none other than Richard Castle standing in the doorway looking startled.

His face changed from startled to utterly confused as soon as he made eye contact with them. "What the…"

"Hey, you guys in here?" A feminine voice said from around the corner of the door. Beckett appeared a moment later with a bundle of clothes in her arms.

She dropped them at the sight.

Kate and Castle were frozen in their place, Kate straddling him while they were both shirtless. The younger Castle looked between the pair and Beckett, so utterly overwhelmed he couldn't even let out a surprised squeak.

Beckett thought she might faint.

**Please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

**Over 100 reviews for 3 chapters? You guys are the BEST. Thank you so much again.**

**Regarding the whole time travel thing, you've probably noticed I'm being super vague about it. That is because 1) Honestly, I really can't be bothered coming up with a viable, non-cheesy way for it to work and most importantly 2) Does anyone even care? Lol, I imagine it would be super boring to read.**

**So if you're expecting any details on that front…sorry!**

**Also, I know some of you have asked questions in your reviews but in an effort to not make my author's notes so long please just PM me if there's anything you want to know and I promise to reply to you :)**

**Onto the chapter!**

Castle grabbed his coat from the back of his chair after walking out of Montgomery's office, heading for the elevator. The Captain had just informed him that Beckett had called in saying she had fallen suddenly sick and had left the precinct from holding a couple of hours ago. Castle scrunched up his nose as he hit the ground floor button in the elevator. How hard would it have been to send him a message? He'd been hanging around the precinct waiting for her to come back. He had resorted to flicking scrunched up pieces of paper at Ryan and Esposito for the last hour. He had tried calling her, but she hadn't answered.

He supposed he shouldn't be mad, she wasn't feeling well. And for Beckett to up and leave like that, it must mean something was seriously wrong. He suddenly felt extremely worried about her, resolving to drive past her place to see if she was okay. He knew she wouldn't thank him for it, but he was going to do it anyway.

Just at the elevator opened its doors at the ground floor, Castle's phone began to ring. His eyebrows pinched together when he saw the name on the screen. It was Harry. He worked at the front desk of the Peninsula Hotel. They'd become friendly after Castle had been there so many times.

_Why is he calling me? I haven't made any bookings recently…_

"Hey Harry, what's going on?" Castle answered, curious.

"Oh, Mr Castle," Harry replied. "Sorry to disturb you, but I was wondering if you wanted me to bring up that extra bedding you asked for? I can come up later if you'd like."

"Harry, what are you talking about?" Castle paused as he was exiting the NYPD building.

"When you checked in just now you asked for an extra few pillows and a comforter for the couch in case a friend needed to crash with you." Harry responded. It was unusual of Mr Castle to forget anything, especially something he had just asked for.

"What? Harry, I didn't check in at the hotel. This a prank? You pulling my tail?" He said in a joking way, trying to remove the fear.

"No, Mr Castle. Not at all." Harry replied, confused. "You just checked in here with Kate about five minutes ago. Do you not remember?"

Castle could not have been more confused by the conversation. How could Harry, a man who he had now known for years, honestly think someone impersonating him was actually him? But when he had mentioned Kate, and he remembered Beckett's little disappearing act, he became suspicious.

"Oh, right." Castle said, faking stupidity. "God, Harry from reception? I thought you were the Harry from my publishing company. Always trying to avoid those guys. Uh, please leave the bedding for a couple of hours. Thank you."

"No problem, Mr Castle." Harry responded. "Have a nice afternoon."

"Bye Harry."

Castle frowned as he hung up his phone. He had no idea what was going on, or how somebody could so perfectly imitate him that Harry wouldn't notice it wasn't him. But his use of the name Kate had him wondering. It stirred a strange feeling inside of him. Jealously? He didn't know, but he was going to find out what was going on.

Castle pulled up in front of the hotel, quickly handing his keys off to the valet and running inside.

"Harry, my main man!" He pointed at the receptionist with a bright smile. "I've accidentally left my key upstairs with Kate, mind giving me another?"

Harry tilted his head, a slightly confused expression colouring his face.

"Sure, Mr Castle." He said, as he hesitantly reached for a new key. "Did you change?"

_Shit,_ Castle thought, _forgot about that. _

"Oh, yeah. Spilt some stuff on it. I'm an idiot." He said flippantly, taking the key card from Harry and giving him a generous tip. "Thanks again, Harry. You're the man."

Castle gave him an enthusiastic, dorky thumbs up as he raced towards the elevator. The whole ride up he was impatiently bobbing up and down, nose just a fraction from where the doors would separate when they opened.

The elevator dinged and he slid out immediately.

He heard a laugh on the other side of the door. A girly laugh that he didn't think he'd heard before, but somehow it was still familiar. It was time to see who the sucker was who thought they could get away with impersonating him.

Castle had to admit he was a little impressed.

He slid the key card into the compartment attached to the wall on the side of the double doors, then with both hands simultaneously pushed them open. He was going for dramatic effect.

The sight wasn't what he was expecting. There was a woman, a really hot one he might add, straddling some lucky bastard on the couch. And she was shirtless. So was he, but Castle wasn't paying much attention to that.

"Woah! Sorry!" He said, jumping in surprise.

The man and woman mouths sprang apart and their heads snapped towards him. Castle was still staring at the woman. She was familiar.

He focused his eyes and then gasped. _Beckett? Does she have a long lost sister or something? If so, that family has some good genes. Oh god, what if she's in on some secret undercover operation and I've just totally ruined it._

That thought was dispelled from his mind as soon as he made eye contact with the man she was still on top of. His eyes weren't just familiar, he had seen them everyday, multiple times a day in the mirror for his entire life.

"What the…" Was all Castle could get out as he took a step back. Even his overactive mind couldn't process what was happening.

"Hey, you guys in here?" He heard a woman's voice approaching the door. Beckett's voice. _What the fuck?_

She was holding a bunch of clothes in her arms, which she dropped almost immediately when she came into view.

She saw the couple on the couch first. That was enough to practically send her into cardiac arrest, but when her eyes darted to the man at the doorway with her she felt like she was going to faint.

Castle looked between the couple and Beckett, jumping as he switched views.

"What? What? WHAT?" His voice, and his pitch, rose with each repetition.

Beckett went to move her mouth but no sound was coming out.

Kate and Castle were still frozen on the couch, neither knowing how to process the horror before them.

"Who...what are you? Clones or something?" Castle asked, his pitch seemed to be set at one high decibel. "Beckett, are you some secret scientist and the NYPD is just your cover story?"

When he met her eyes he saw that that was certainly not the case. She looked about as shocked as he felt. He spun his head back to the couple on the couch.

The younger Castle's eye reconnecting with hers finally caused Kate to react. She tried to quickly jump up and off her boyfriend, yet it seemed he had the same idea and they fumbled on top of one another. Kate scrambled for her shirt, throwing it over her head while Castle simply put his back around his shoulders not bothering with the buttons. They both stood and faced their younger selves standing at the door, movements suddenly shifting from frantic to statue-like.

The younger Castle was wide eyed.

"Okay, I'm going to need some explanations because right now, I feel like I'm either in some kind of Punk'd type show, in a mental institution, or am simply just dreaming. Someone please confirm which!"

Beckett still couldn't speak so Kate jumped in.

"Uh," She said, wavering as the younger Castle's eyes met with hers once again and looked at her with a kind of uncertainty she'd never seen in them before. At least not when he was looking at her. "Please don't freak out. You're not crazy, or on a TV show, or dreaming. This is real. We are um, well we are future versions of the two of you."

Kate paused, waiting for his reaction. His expression didn't change from disbelief.

"We have travelled back in time, it's a long story. But basically we are here because of a case, and we needed the me from this time's help, so that's why she's here." Kate gestured towards her younger self.

Castle turned his head towards the sheepish Beckett, who simply nodded. If she was going along with this kind of craziness, there had to some truth to it. It was funny, usually he was the one with all the wild theories and she was the sceptic but here they were. Beckett in the know and accepting of an insane reality while Castle just couldn't seem to mentally grasp the situation.

"I think I'm going to need the long story." He choked out.

They all nodded understandingly, before the elder Castle spoke for the first time since his younger self had burst in the room.

He explained the details surrounding Grace and her brother, how he and Kate came here, how Beckett came to be involved. He couldn't tell if his younger self was taking any of the information in though, because the whole time he spoke the young Castle looked more freaked out than he had the whole time he had been there. However when the elder Castle finished, his younger counterpart nodded then moved toward the couch to take a seat.

"Right." Castle continued to nod with his head in his hands, processing the information.

The other three waited in a nervous silence before the young Castle piped up.

"This. Is. AWESOME! Are you serious? This has got to be the coolest thing that has ever happened to anyone. You have to tell me how to do it." He said to his future self. "Time travel, I mean."

The elder Castle and Kate laughed with relief, while Beckett simply gaped.

_That's it? He just believes it, just like that?_

She had just spent almost an hour by herself in the car and in her apartment getting the clothes, trying to convince herself this was just a dream she was going to wake up from, with a previous two hours of disbelief spent with her future self added onto that. Yet all he needs five minutes before his mind is put to ease? Fuck that.

"That's it? You need no more convincing?" She asks.

"What more convincing do I need?" Castle squeaks excitedly, pointing towards the elder two. "Look at them! And may I say Beckett, nice going on the aging!"

Castle begins to look Kate up and down, and it's only then that he realises he just caught his future self and future Kate about to get down to business on the couch.

"Oh my god. Wait!" He says dramatically, slamming his hand down on the wooden table by the couch. "Are you guys, or us guys," He says gesturing between him and Beckett. "dating? Or does the lovely detective finally realise that fighting crime with me is not only fun in the field?"

Ugh, is all Beckett can think. Exactly what she expected from him.

Kate however, rolls her eyes as she smiles.

"Dating! We're dating." The older Castle interjects with a tone of alarm, roughly grabbing his younger self's arm. "Can you please not do this with her? Or them?"

The young Castle's eyes go wide once again for a moment, before he sees the way his eyes are pleading.

"Yeah, yeah." He says in a more serious, quieter voice. He looks at his older self for a moment, having a moment of profound realisation. He loved her.

That wasn't much of a surprise to him, because if he was honest he always knew that he'd feel that way about her eventually. He'd known since she'd whispered in his ear and sauntered away on their very first case. Why else would he have so belligerently gone after becoming her shadow? He wasn't just going to walk away from that walk, or lip bite, or whispered promise that basically said, "The sex would be amazing". But it wasn't that which stopped him from continuing to make fun, it was the way his future eye's looked.

The honesty, the quiet, desperate need for what he had with Kate not to be disturbed, had made Castle realise how deep he was in. It wasn't a Meredith or a Gina kind of love. He had loved them. He was married to them. But they were both marriages born out of convenience, out of serving society's idea of 'the right thing to do'. He never felt like the universe was pulling him down on one knee when he asked the big question to either of them. He had been happy when they said yes, but he wasn't touched with that sense of immortality. That it didn't matter what life would throw at him from then on, because nothing could ever be that bad if one of them were around. He had always thought he would have felt that way if he'd asked Kyra.

But he was so young when he was with her, and he would have needed at least another year before considering marrying her.

Kate, however, had seemed to bring him to a new level on the emotional scale. The highest level. The young Castle looked at her, the first time he had really studied her since walking in.

She was ridiculously beautiful. She was now, as the Beckett he knew, but this Kate had allowed herself to express those sides of herself through her appearance he knew she had within her at this present moment. That spice, that sass, that strength, that sheer femininity that only gave her more power. He knew why he loved her, even if he didn't know just how much or how it came to be yet.

There was a moment of silence between the four as they all took a moment to reflect on the two Castle's exchange.

Beckett watched her Castle's expression change after Kate's Castle got slightly aggressive with him. She'd been told so much by Kate about how much he had changed, and the way she had spoken had said so much about the way he cared for her, but it wasn't until that moment that Beckett believed her.

She had never seen Castle even slightly mad before. He had been sombre when she shared her mother's story with him, and he had this special softness when he spoke about Alexis that she secretly found charming, but apart from that he had been his annoying, fun-loving, babe-watching self.

Tears began to well up behind her eyes, which she quickly blinked back. For the first time since this whole thing had started, she was looking forward to this future she had acquired for herself. She was looking forward to being in this relationship with Castle. This relationship, not a relationship with Castle. Because the only one she could imagine right now would be a lust-filled doomed adventure, but the one she saw between Kate and Castle was true and loving as well as those things.

She almost laughed to herself. Had she been told a day ago she was excited for a future romance with Castle she would have probably checked herself into the asylum.

"So," The younger Castle cleared his throat. "How far into the future are you from?"

"Four years. April 2013." Kate answers.

"And uh, how long have you guys been together?" Castle says, finger wavering between Kate and her boyfriend.

"Almost a year."

Beckett's eyebrows raise. She didn't know that either.

"A year?!" Castle says with a horrified look. "It takes _that _long?"

Beckett shoots him an evil glare.

"What, do you have a plan for when this was going to happen or something?" She asks, annoyed.

"No! I didn't know it was going to happen at all but I mean, I wouldn't have thought if it did happen that it would take that long!" He sits back down on the couch with a huff.

"Don't worry, it's worth it." The elder Castle gives him a reassuring wink.

Kate doesn't even try to hide her grin before mushing her face into his bicep for a moment.

The young Castle meets his older eye. "I know it'll be worth it, but it doesn't mean I don't hate waiting."

Beckett, who had been relatively quiet since she'd arrived, looked at present day Castle. Something tickled her heart at that comment, the first time this Castle had inspired that reaction. She was worth waiting for to him, even at this stage. For a moment she felt the need to re-evaluate her entire view of him. Maybe Kate was right. He always has been a caring, sweet guy.

"I mean, the sex seems like it would be unbelievable. Going by the comment she whispered in my ear at the end of the Tisdale case and that little incident I just witnessed on the couch, I mean."

And the moment was gone.

The elder Castle grinned, recessing to that playful, childish side of him that has never left. "Yeah, it is."

"Castle!" Kate says with a grimace. "Really?"

"Don't be embarrassed, we are talking to ourselves." Castle reassures her.

"Still." She says, scrunching her face up. Both Castle's smile at the cuteness.

"Would it be too much to ask for details?" The young Castle slyly asks.

The grin on his future self's face widens as he opens his mouth to answer.

"Yes." Kate and Beckett simultaneously cut him off.

The boys look dejected.

"Some things never change." They all say at once. They look at each other weirdly for a moment, reflecting on the spookiness of saying the same thing. Then they all start laughing.

"At least that's one thing we can all agree on." Kate says.

"Both agree on." The Castle's say.

Kate and Beckett both look slightly repulsed.

"Really? The writer in you never fades either." Kate remarks.

"For the sake of _our _sanity," she says pointing between her and Beckett emphatically, "can we please refer to each other as four different people? It'll just be easier."

"Fine."

"Thank you."

"So, if you're not going to give details about the sex, can you give details about the relationship as a whole?" Castle asks.

"What do you wanna know?" Kate says.

"What date exactly does the relationship begin?" Castle asks, suddenly taking on the persona of a detective in an interrogation. He'd been studying Beckett pretty keenly.

"May 7th, 2012." The elder Castle replies immediately.

Kate raises her eyebrows at him with a smile.

"What? It was a good day."

"Are we really going to get hung up on details here?' Kate asks, trying not to give Castle too much satisfaction.

"I'm a writer. Details are my specialty." Young Castle says.

His elder self nods in approval, giving Kate a 'too right' look.

"And why does it take so long?"

Kate and Castle look flabbergasted at that question, neither knowing where to begin.

"We'll miss the deadline to help Grace if we answer that properly." Kate replies.

"Speaking of Grace, does she know we're here?" Castle asks her.

"Yeah, I texted her before we left my dad's. She should be here soon."

"Okay, good."

"Back to the topic at hand, please." Young Castle orders. "How long until she stops pretending to hate having me around?"

"Shut up." Beckett says.

Kate laughs. "Don't worry, I allow you a smile or two soon. But then you are an idiot and screw it up, but once I so generously forgive you for that, we become proper friends pretty quickly."

"Ooh, what do I do?" Castle asks, eyes alight.

"Something really dumb." Older Castle confirms.

"What?" It's Beckett who's asking now. Her first question.

"Uh, I look into your mom's case after you tell me not to. Dumb move, but it turns out that it kinda helps in the future so not totally idiotic. But in terms of our relationship, definitely stupid." His voice quivers a bit as he speaks. It's almost intimidating, talking to the 29 year old Beckett.

Kate's stiffens as she waits for Beckett's reaction. Her younger self mirrors her action.

"You look into my mom's case?" She whispers harshly.

"Please, don't get mad at him. You get mad at him enough when the time comes. And he's right, it does help." Kate interjects.

"Oh, great. So I've got some Beckett wrath to look forward to." The Young Castle says, trying not to look too displeased.

"Shut up, you." His older self quickly quips.

Beckett's quiet as Kate studies her face.

"He helps? Helps how?" She asks quietly.

The mood in the room suddenly shifts and becomes more solemn.

"I didn't want to go into this too much with you, because it will be too much too handle all at once, but I…_we_," She corrects, looking to Castle. "make progress in mom's case."

"Progress? What kind of progress?" Beckett asks more forcefully now.

"I'm not going to tell you, you're just going to forget anyway." Kate says.

She see the growing fury on her younger self's face.

"Please, Kate. You have to trust me on this. You'll know when the time comes. Please."

She had called her Kate again. Beckett took a breath and closed her eyes. She needed to think rationally. She knew Kate had a point, but her burning desire for the truth was making it hard to remember.

"Okay." Was all she could get out.

"Okay." Kate repeated.

Castle, the present one, reached out and took Beckett's hand in his lightly. Beckett's eyes were still closed when she felt the rough, warm hand on hers. She instantly found her breathing easier. When she opened her eyes, she had expected future Castle. But present Castle's eyes were the ones that were looking at her with a softness that was unlike when she'd confided in him, or when he talked about Alexis. It was a different kind all together. He cared.

She waited a moment before removing her hand. It wasn't much, but it was her way of showing she was grateful. Five minutes ago she would have pulled away the second she realised it was him.

The hotel phone ring filled the silent air that had settled among them. The elder Castle, slightly disorientated after watching the tender moment (he had been silently cheering his young self on), reached for the phone.

"Hello?" he answered. "Oh, yes. Let her up please. Thanks Harry."

"Oh, yeah. Gotta tell you a little Harry story later too." The younger Castle said to his future self once the phone was back down.

"Is it Grace?" Kate asks.

"Yep." Castle confirms. "Should we try and hide him or do you think she's used to the weirdness?"

"Oh, please let me hide. I'm the best at this game." Young Castle says eagerly.

"No, we are not playing hide and seek at a time like this." Beckett says.

"I wasn't talking about hide and seek. I was talking about me hiding and then jumping out at just the right time to totally freak Grace out." He nods with enthusiasm as he explains.

"Absolutely not." Kate says, giving him her 'would you stop being such a charming idiot?' face.

There was a banging on the door.

"That was quick." Elder Castle remarks.

He opens the double doors and Grace dashes inside.

"Okay, we are going to need a better plan." She states dramatically, letting out a big breath.

"Woah, double trouble happening here or what?!"

**Hope that wasn't too confusing! Update in a couple days, please review :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

**Sorry this took a little longer to update than I anticipated, enjoy nonetheless! **

Grace couldn't stop laughing for a good three minutes once she saw both Castle's and both Kate's in the same room.

"This is by far the weirdest, funniest thing I have ever seen." She says as she finally collects herself.

"Yes, it's just _hilarious_." Beckett says bitterly. She feels as though she's the only one who is still really uncomfortable with this situation.

"Oh, come on Beckett. Don't be like that." The younger Castle says as he puts an arm around her shoulder. "Embrace this unbelievably cool, never in a lifetime opportunity. There's not much we can do about it now anyway."

She shrugs him off with a scowl, but she knows he's right. There's no point being mad because it won't change the situation, yet she can't seem to shake the unsettled feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"What were you saying about being a better plan, Grace?" Beckett asks as a deflection.

The young girl's smile suddenly dissipates, etching a tight line between her eyebrows.

"Right, yeah. We are going to need to fully plan this out because it's a bit more difficult than I realised." Grace tells the group.

"Difficult how? You didn't run into trouble did you?" Kate asks, concerned.

"Not really." Grace replies before continuing. "I got the car away fine, and I parked it in mechanic's garage that was closed for the day so tomorrow he should be able to contact the owner or report it so the guy will get it back. Not really stealing, more like a move that was not authorised by the owner."

Young Castle gives her a thumbs-up. "You're good with words. We will get along."

She smiles. "Me and Castle already get along."

Grace smiles up at the older Castle then frowns. "So what are we calling each other here? Because I find this very confusing."

"Why don't we go with calling the younger two Beckett and Castle, and the two of us Rick and Kate." The elder Castle says gesturing between him and Kate. "I'm sure we'll still get confused but it should be easier for you."

Grace nods. "Alright. Anyway, moving the car was all fine but when I was inside it I saw that they had guns in the glove compartment. I knew they were dangerous, but I didn't think they had guns. They usually just beat people with tyre irons and that sort of stuff. So you're going to have to be extra careful."

"We'll be fine." Kate reassures her. "We all have dealt with these kind of situations countless times. Well, I guess except for Castle. Only five or six times for him. Maybe he should stay back."

Beckett smirks.

"What?" Both Castle's say.

"No, Kate. Come on." Rick says to her. "You can't bench him. This is too fun."

"Yeah!" Castle supports. "I'll just follow you if you don't take me. And then you'll have to rescue me if I get caught sneaking in, and then one of us might get shot, which will mean two of really will get shot. And if it's Beckett or me, when we die one of you will fade away. And then when the surviving one goes back to your time everything will be different because one of you won't have existed for four years. Do you really wanna go through all that?"

Kate gives him an unamused expression. "You know you could just not follow us?"

"We have been dating for a year and you think that will actually happen?"

"No, I know it won't. I was just pointing out how annoying you are."

Castle smiles in victory. "So, I'm coming."

Rick smirks. "We'll have to be careful about who sees us though."

"Disguises! I like it." Castle says with enthusiasm.

"No, no disguises." Kate replies. "We are not supposed to be seen anyway. When it comes time for the arrest, Beckett will call Ryan and Espo for back-up."

"We're going to let them in on this?" Beckett asks in horror.

"Well once we get a visual, you can call them saying you've seen something suspicious and to send a team. They'll respond quickly, and we'll hide before they see us."

"So what's the point in anyone but me going?" Beckett asks.

"In case you run into trouble. You can't do this by yourself, as great as you are." Rick tells her.

Beckett simply nods. She still finds it very hard to talk to him. Kate and Castle are different, but with Rick there is something that terrifies her about him. Not in a wary of her safety kind of way, but in a way that speaks to her reserved nature. He knows all these things about her she has yet to share with him, and she doesn't know exactly what he does and doesn't know. It's weird, and makes her insides squirm. She hates not knowing things.

"Okay, now that that's settled, tell me – you freaking out about dating Castle?" Grace asks Beckett with a cunning smile.

"That would be an understatement." Beckett replies sternly.

"Hey! I'm not that bad and you know it." Castle defends. "I know you're secretly jumping for joy about being with me. I mean, you are such a _huge_ fan of my work and I am pretty good looking, don't lie."

"Oh my god, you were even worse then than you are now." Kate deadpans to her boyfriend, who can't stop laughing.

"You have to be joking. Please say you're not that arrogant and stupid that you actually believe that?" Beckett asks Castle.

"I am neither arrogant nor stupid, just simply perceptive and right." He returns.

Both Kate's roll their eyes.

Rick's still laughing.

"Shut up." Kate tells him before turning to Grace. "Your room is just there, by the way. We're in the one opposite."

"Taking the one with the balcony Jacuzzi, nice." Castle says to his future self. He knew it was a long wait, something he was not good with at all, but Castle was super excited for four years time when he gets to be this guy.

"Shut up." Kate repeats, now directing the comment at Castle.

Sensing Beckett's uneasiness, Kate tries to change the subject.

"Wanna watch a movie or something while we wait? There's not much else we can do to pass the time. It's not like we can go outside."

"I want to ask more questions." Castle states. "Like, do we have hover cars by 2013?"

"'Fraid not." Rick replies.

"How about hologram telephones?"

"Not yet, but the latest iPhone is pretty cool."

"Are the last Harry Potter movies good?"

"Oh, so good." Grace interjects, putting her hand on her heart.

"Has Jamie Oliver added the smorlette to his cook book?"

"No, he wants to maintain his reputation." Kate quips.

"He is missing out on that money-making genius unfortunately." Rick ignores her jab.

"Do we at least have a database for old case files at the precinct instead of all that paper?"

"Oh my god, shut up." Beckett almost yells.

"Yeah, we should watch a movie." Rick says, sensing Beckett's frustration.

"Don't think I don't have more questions." Castle warns, pointing his finger at Rick and Kate.

"And you," He turns his index finger towards Beckett. "need to ask more questions. Aren't you curious?"

Beckett looks him in the eye expressionless for a moment, then moves to the couch without saying anything.

"What are we watching?" She says.

"What is was even out at this time?" Rick says as he turns the TV on. "Ooh, the Dark Knight Rises. Done."

Kate groans. "I've watched that at least five times with you."

"Yeah, but you watched it for the first time with me. Which means Beckett hasn't seen it, and I'll only have seen it like fifteen times at this point. Almost brand new." Rick explains, as though it's so obvious.

Castle nods.

"Let's just press play, shall we?" Beckett asks, but it comes out more like an order. She just wants to escape this reality for a while. She knows there's not much point, it's not like she'll be able to stop thinking about this situation. At least she won't have to listen to Castle's boasting for a couple of hours though.

Grace jumps on the couch to the far left, immediately spreading herself out and getting comfortable while Castle plonks himself down next to Beckett on the couch in the middle. She makes a face at him, causing him to laugh as he moves to the other end instead of being directly next to her.

"You know, judging by that, you're going to love being close to me one day." He remarks, gesturing to Kate and Castle who have occupied the couch on the right. They both have their legs up on the couch, Kate's head resting on his chest.

"But not today." Beckett replies.

She watches the two on the couch as the movie begins to play, wondering how she gets to that place with the man next to her.

Rick begins to run his hand through Kate's hair, making her smile softly in a way that seems almost instinctive as she's already too absorbed in the film to be thinking about it. Beckett knows she's genuinely happy, and it makes her yearn for four years time, but at the same time her stomach twists at the sight.

She looks over to Castle, thinking he would be watching the screen. He's not. He's watching Kate and Rick too. His expression is soft, making him look ten years younger. His eyes aren't those alert, snappy eyes he usually has. They are tender and watchful. She swears she sees his mouth tilt up slightly.

He's intrigued by the intimacy of their position on the couch. He hasn't really had the chance to properly digest the information that they were a couple yet. He'd walked in on them about to have sex, and his immediate reaction to finding out they get together was to think about the sex, and ask about it, but he hadn't really taken the time to realise that they were in a proper relationship. Their intimacy, the way his future self touched her and the way she folded into him, shocked him. He realised that this wasn't just any girl that he was in a relationship with him. This was someone really serious and amazing, who had this whole life outside of the things he occupied his time with. She wasn't like one of the girls who he picked up at a book launch or signing. For her to want to be with him, they would have to be serious and they must had to have gone through a lot for her to become the woman lying on the couch with his future self. The Beckett sitting stiffly a few feet away from him would have to know much more about him than what he has shown her so far. Which could really only mean one thing; he loved her. He would never drop the fun-loving persona otherwise.

When he looks over to Beckett, he realises she's looking back at him. Their eyes connect, and they both have a moment where they know what the other's thinking. Castle offers her a small smile. Beckett gulps and then returns her eyes to the screen.

Castle wants her to want to be with him. He hopes before this whole thing is over, he can get her to want that. He doesn't like the idea of her dreading a future with him. He wants her to know that it's a good thing and he's happy about it beyond the sex. He doesn't think she'd believe him if he told her that, so he might just have to prove it to her.

As Beckett pretends to watch the movie, her mind drifts to Rick's earlier comment about her mom's case. The way Kate was talking, about hearing it all would be too much, told her that she comes to know a lot more than she does now. Beckett is grateful for that, it's what she's always wanted but she's beyond frustrated about not knowing. She hopes Kate will give her something, anything a bit later. Even though she will just forget it, it would be nice to know that she comes to know why her mother was killed.

She'd never really thought about what her life would be like once she'd found out the true motivation behind Johanna's murder, and put her killer behind bars. Beckett knew how different she was than before her mom died, how the tragedy had made her much more solemn and serious. It had become so entrenched within her after ten years, she wondered if she would change once she knew who was responsible. Could she go back to being carefree and happy once she'd got Johanna justice? Beckett couldn't see how it could be that simple. The whole reason she became a cop was to find out who killed her mother. Is that what she would still want once she'd achieved her goal?

Glancing over at Kate once more, Beckett resigned that her elder self must know the identity of her mom's killer. Since they'd met this morning, she couldn't figure out how she could change so much even with Kate telling her it was Castle's presence in her life. There had to be more. She had had a weight lifted, one that had been suppressing her life since she was nineteen. Kate knew. Beckett was determined to get her to admit at least that.

She continues to watch Kate and Rick throughout the movie, and notices Castle doing the same. They don't seem to notice their eyes on them.

Fingers entwined at points, heads on each other's shoulders, whispering into each other's ears at different parts of the film.

Eventually the movie draws to an end, and even though she was only half paying attention the whole time, Beckett finds it wasn't completely terrible.

Somehow Grace has managed to fall asleep through the action sequences, and makes no movement once the credits begin to roll.

"What time is it?" Kate asks, lifting her head from Rick's torso to grab her phone.

"It's 7:15." Rick replies, looking at his watch.

"We better get going."

The younger two nod, then Grace begins to stir.

"Wait, are you going already?" She says sleepily.

"Yeah, we'll be back later on, don't worry." Kate answers.

"What? I'm coming!" The young girl jumps up from the couch, her blonde hair frazzled.

"No, you're not." Kate says sternly. "I won't have you in any unnecessary danger, and you'd only be getting in the way. Trust me, it's better to be objective about these things."

Grace sighs in defeat and slumps back onto the couch.

"Don't worry kid, you can order room service and have some Jacuzzi time. We'll be back before you know it." Rick says reassuringly.

They head out the door and decide to go down separately in their couples, five minutes apart. That way if anyone spots them twice they can just say they forgot something. Castle and Beckett go first, pulling Beckett's car around the front as they wait for Rick and Kate to walk out.

They pull up across the road from the alleyway where the gang member's car was earlier in the day, before Grace moved it.

"So, what's the plan here?" Castle asks.

"We wait for Tommy to show up, and when he realises the car isn't there, he should go back to wherever the gang is. We'll follow him and then decide on a plan of attack from there." Kate answers.

Beckett nods in understanding. "Did she say how long he would be?"

"She was a bit unsure, but she said he should show up sometime between eight and ten." Kate tells her.

Beckett tries not to groan. Great, so they could be spending two hours in the car together with nothing to do but listen to Castle ask question after question.

"You don't have any snacks, do you?" Castle asks, popping his head between Kate and Rick in the space between the two front seats. Kate had insisted they sit in the front after they were picked up, them knowing more about the mission at hand.

"I didn't notice with all the excitement that I hadn't really eaten much today. But boy, I am noticing now."

"Here." Rick throws a bag of potato chips in the back seat. "I took a couple things out of the mini bar. Not enough to sustain us though."

"We'll get something later, stop thinking about your stomach." Kate orders.

"Sorry mom." Castle says in response, which earns him one of Kate's evil glares.

"Ah, you still know how to make that face, huh? It's really scary just to let you know."

Beckett tries not to grin. Her amusement doesn't last long though, because soon Castle is crunching loudly on his chips in the silent car.

"Can't you chew with your mouth closed?" She finally asks, annoyed.

"Amen." Kate says.

"No, I can't. Doctor's say it's a real problem." Castle answers cheekily, continuing to crunch loudly. "So, I think we should use this time to be more productive and ask more questions."

Both Kate's groan, while Rick smiles happily.

"Is Alexis in college?" Castle asks seriously.

Beckett wasn't expecting that. She was expecting some other ridiculous question about being able to go to the moon for a holiday, or something about him and her. Of course he'd want to know about his daughter. The care he had for the young redhead was the one gorgeous side of himself that he had shown her.

"She is. Columbia, I might add." Rick replies proudly.

"Huh, go baby!" Castle says triumphantly. "And she's still as responsible and honest as ever? Doesn't go through a wild child tattoo phase?"

"Nope. She's perfect."

Kate smiles, shaking her head. Castle would never see his daughter as anything but perfect.

"Good. And mother?"

"Oh, she's the same." Rick replies. "Still living at the loft, off my money. Dramatic as ever."

"Of course she is." Castle says. He didn't expect anything less.

"Do we ever get a case involving the CIA?" He asks, praying for a positive answer.

Kate and Rick share a look.

"Uh, yeah we do." He tells his younger self warily.

"We do?!" Beckett interjects.

"Ooh, is it not good?" Castle asks with a nervous grimace.

"That would be an understatement." Kate replies, the harshness of her tone giving away her residual feelings about that particular case.

"Okay, well, let's stay away from that then." Castle says quickly. "How annoying though. I would have thought a CIA case would be the most awesome thing ever."

"We do have a few FBI ones." Kate offers as counsel.

"Ugh, FBI schmeff-BI." Castle says. "Who cares about them?"

Beckett rolls her eyes.

"So, uh, I know we don't happen until 2012, which is a _whole_ three years away." Castle begins, emphasising his distaste at the wait. "So surely we date other people between now and then?"

"Ugh, yeah. Kate has some very unfortunate taste when it comes to men who aren't me, let me tell you." Rick says, voice laced with disgust. "It's like through denying she had feelings for me for all that time, she turned to these guys that were just…"

He shuddered and Kate hit him on the arm.

"Shut up! They were nice, and good looking." She adds in that last part as an extra little dig for her boyfriend, knowing it will make him scowl.

It has the desired effect.

"Please, they had nothing on me." He retorts.

"Really? Not even Josh?" Kate throws back, knowing how much that will aggravate him. Josh was an attractive guy and Rick knew it, but he was always a bit too perfect looking for Kate. Besides he was rather boring, in comparison to Rick at least, and that lessened his attractiveness. It was hard to find any man entertaining when you spent every day with an overgrown child.

"You mean the giant with the greasy hair?" Rick bites. "Someone should have been trailing after him with a mop."

Kate tries not to laugh as she watches his face bunch as he talks that ridiculous nonsense. Josh had great hair, she would know. She wouldn't admit it, but she loved it when he got jealous.

"Um, who's Josh exactly?" Beckett asks tentatively from the back seat, unsure if she really wants to know.

"Ditto." Castle says.

"Doctor Motorcycle Boy is this guy you allow to be your boyfriend for like, nine months." Rick explains, the bitterness in his voice obvious.

He catches Beckett's frown in the rear view mirror.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be looking forward to that either." He adds.

"Be quiet." Kate tells him, before turning to Beckett in the back seat. "We date for a while, but he's a doctor and we don't really have time for one another."

"Plus, she's realises she's totally in love with me and can't be with him so that's really why they break things off." Rick says smugly.

"It is not."

"Is too."

"When is this?" Castle asks, curious about this guy. He can already tell why he doesn't like him. He sounds impressive.

"From late 2010 to about mid 2011." Rick replies.

Kate raises an eyebrow at him.

"I'm a writer, I'm good with details." He brushes it off, knowing it's pointless because she knows him a lot better than that.

"And is there anyone else?" Castle asks, almost afraid of the answer.

"Yeah, there's also Demming." He shivers after saying his name. "I honestly couldn't tell you who was worse."

"Oh, please. You can hardly call that dating, it lasted like two seconds." Kate says.

"Are we talking about the relationship or how good he was in bed?" Rick jokes, smiling at the thought of Demming being a terrible lover. No wonder she broke up with him. From what he'd learned in the past year, Kate Beckett was not the type to put up with crappy sex. Although, he couldn't understand how any sex involving her could be bad.

"The relationship, you idiot. We never even slept together." Kate says annoyed.

"What?" Rick replies, eyes going wide. "How is that possible?"

In the backseat, Castle was extremely intrigued by the conversation. He was leaning forward, listening actively. Beckett however, was very uncomfortable discussing her future sex life in front of not only one, but two Castle's. She wanted to melt into the seat.

"What do you mean, how is that possible?" Kate asks incredulously. "We never got into a bed and did it."

"No, I mean," Rick scratches his head. "You were going out for a while."

"Not really. Only a few weeks." Kate replies softly, realising she's revealing that she wanted to be with Castle long before they got together. This was something she definitely didn't want to happen in front of young Castle.

"Only a few weeks?" Rick asks, confused. "You never told me that."

"Why would I?" Kate says. "Oh, hey Castle, I know we're together now but just to let you know I only went out with Demming for like, three weeks."

Rick sits there with a frown on his face.

"I'll tell you more about it later. Can we change the topic please?" Kate pleads.

Beckett, suddenly feeling very curious in the back seat, decides it would be fair to turn the tables. Besides, she secretly does want to know about Castle's women.

"What about Castle? Does he date anyone else?"

"Oh, well. If you think my guys were bad.." Kate says with a laugh.

"Uh, excuse me. Mine were far superior choices to yours, thank you very much." Rick cuts her off.

"Are they hot?" Castle asks, excited.

"They are your ex-wife and a couple of random flings." Kate deadpans.

Castle leans back in his seat, disgusted. "Ex-wife? Please tell me it's not Meredith."

"It's not Meredith."

"Why the hell would you get back with Gina?" Castle asks his future self disapprovingly. "Seriously, why do that to yourself?"

"Yeah, I don't really know. She wasn't as bad the second time around admittedly. Not as demanding and neurotic. But still demanding and neurotic." Rick explained.

"Guys." Beckett interjects.

"Seriously, I just can't believe it." Castle continues shaking his head.

"I don't know what to tell you." Rick replies.

"Guys!" Beckett yells.

"What?" The other three say at once.

"Is that Tommy?" Beckett asks, pointing at the hooded figure walking down the alley.

Kate squints and leans forward, trying to get a better look at the person.

"Yeah that's him."

They watch as the fourteen year old stops and looks around the alleyway. He looks around the corner and waits for a couple of minutes, looking confused. He then proceeds to walk down the street, away from the site.

"Alright, let's move." Kate says, starting the car.

They slowly trail the teenager from a discreet distance until he stops at a shabby looking warehouse.

"Should we call Ryan and Esposito for back up yet?" Castle whispers, as though the boy can somehow hear them from inside the car.

"No. We don't know if they're in there. We have to be sure." Kate answers, moving to get out of the car.

The others follow suit.

"Okay, here's what we'll do." She says to the team. "It looks as though we can only get in from the front so once we're inside, we'll split up. Cas-Rick and I will go to the left, and the two of you can go to the right. Be quiet, and as soon as you sight anybody, alert me. Once we've seen them I'll call Ryan and Espo and have them bring back up, alright?"

They all nod in agreement.

They enter soundly through the front entrance, Kate heading the pack with her gun drawn with Beckett behind her doing the same. A dark, empty corridor greets them. There is a passage in the middle, as well as the option of going right or left. Castle is last through the door and of course, he forgets to let it shut quietly behind him. The loud bang startles the four of them, and they soon hear footsteps coming through the middle passage.

"Quick! Right, left!" Kate whispers, reaching for Rick's hand and pulling him to the left.

They run into the closest room, thankful that it is empty, shutting the door behind them. Kate prays nobody will need it soon.

The other two run to the right, jumping in a cramped storage space. It's dark.

"You okay?" Beckett hears Castle's deep voice whisper.

"Yeah, shh." She hushes, feeling for the light switch. She finds it, and flicks the light on.

She is greeted with Castle's bright blue eyes not even an inch from her own, neither having much room in the small cupboard. But something is wrong.

Taking the small step she can back, she hears Castle gasp.

"Oh, no."

Meanwhile, Kate listens at the door. She hears the footsteps get louder, and then hears the front door open. There is brief silence, then she hears it shut again. Whoever is out there is making no attempts to move from their position.

"I think we are going to have to wait it out." She says quietly as she turns to face her boyfriend.

"Yeah, and it looks like we'll be doing that in the wrong pairs." The young Castle remarks as she turns around.

"Oh, no. If you're in here with me that means Beckett's with Rick." Kate whispers in alarm.

"Yep, and it looks like we'll be stuck for a while."

**:)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

**Sorry for not updating sooner, was overcome by sickness and work this week. Thanks again to everybody for your wonderful responses.**

Kate and Castle are sitting on the ground in the corner furthest from the door in the dimly lit room. The windows provide their only source of light, streaming in by the streetlights. Castle is scratching his fingernails against the metal legs of the closest table out of boredom.

"Would you shush?" Kate whispers harshly.

"Do you really think he can hear us through that thick steel door, while we are on the ground on the other side of the room?" Castle says. "Seriously, you're supposed to be the realistic one."

"Well, it's irritating. So stop it." She retorts.

"Jeez, you really haven't changed much. What have I got myself into?" Castle teases.

Kate shoots him a look. "You don't have a single clue, Castle."

"Ooh, that's intriguing. Tell me more, Detective." Castle leans forward, sly grin on his face.

Kate leans her head back against the rough wall, chest heaving as she lets out a sigh of defeat. When she meets Castle's eye again, she finds him staring at her. Studying her.

"What are you looking at?" She asks.

"Just…noticing the changes." He says, that soft curiosity she knows unique to only him etched into his face. "You really are beautiful, you know."

Kate stiffens slightly. She's never been very good at taking compliments, but this is different. She's heard Castle say that a million times, but the Castle she remembers from four years ago had only ever graced her with the phrase 'haunting good looks'.

She remains silent, then tilts her head as she continues to look at him.

"Like my long hair?" She asks like a little girl, smiling cheekily while skilfully changing the mood.

"I like everything." He says with enthusiasm. "You're cute now, but I like that you've become more comfortable with yourself. I wouldn't have picked it until I saw it, but this is more you. It's part of why I find you so fascinating. You're clearly a serious cop, and you look the part now, but you have this whole other side of you that extends beyond that. It's rich and feminine, and a little dorky."

"Dorky?" She raises her eyebrow. "You think I dress like a dork?"

"Woah, no. Not what I meant! I swear." He backtracks with hand movements and a high-pitched voice, realising that even though this is Beckett he's talking to, she's still a girl and her mind hadn't drifted from clothes yet. "Honestly, I said so many great things just then and that's what you pick to focus on."

She laughs quietly. "Don't be so loud. He'll hear us."

He rolls his eyes. So Beckett, always worrying.

"I meant," He says in an over-the-top whisper, mocking her. "Dorky in like a cool, cultured sort of way. I mean, clearly you're a huge fan of my work so with that excellent taste I've deducted that there must be a whole variety of other works that you're interested in. And you're smart. That's been obvious from the first minute I met you."

She smiles at him. The Castle she knows now has always been there, she just hadn't noticed it in the beginning. Granted, he acted a lot differently around her then. It's funny to see him like this, totally playful and acting carefree when she knows there's so much that runs deeper. Yet he doesn't know that she knows, or hasn't thought about the fact that she knows all this information about him that he has yet to tell her. Kate's positive Beckett has thought about that in regards to Rick. She could see it in her eyes when she looked at him.

"Yeah, well, you might think you have me all figured out Castle but remember," She says with a cunning grin. "I'm from the future, and I don't just think, I know numerous facts about you that you have no idea that I know about."

Castle's face drops, telling Kate she was right. He hadn't thought about it.

"W-what do you know?" He asks nervously, the first time he's actually spoken quietly enough for Kate.

"I know that you're not nearly as much of a player as you make out."

"Excuse me?!" He says dramatically, wild offence plastered on his face as the tone of his voice dips and rises as he speaks, like a rollercoaster. "I may as well be an Aztec God. Maybe my future self just doesn't want to make you feel insecure, so plays down how attractive I am to other women."

Kate laughs. "Yeah, right. You can't win here Castle. I'm the one from the future. I've got the knowledge. I know there are women who like you, I won't deny you that, but you don't go home with nearly as many of them as you make out that you do. Besides, all of them have an IQ of about 75 anyway."

"Including you?" He retorts. "I mean, you seem to like me a great deal from what I saw on the couch before."

"That's different." She defends.

"How?"

"Because I like the real you, not the playboy millionaire author persona that you show to all those women."

"And who is exactly is the real me, Detective?" He asks, his face becoming dangerously close to hers.

The gesture reminds Kate of how he always used to do that in the beginning; lean in close to both intimidate and attract her. It was usually the only time her steady resolve would shake, and he used it against her. As the years went by, it became less of a game and the move was made to comfort her instead, to show her how much he cared.

Kate shifts herself away from him slightly before answering.

"The real you is a guy who cares deeply about other people, especially those close to him. Somebody who'd do anything for the people he loves, and would never intentionally hurt someone even if they weren't a good person. Somebody who is childish in the best way, and somebody you can always rely on to be serious when you need it. A guy who is always there, and can always cheer you up. Someone who stays true to his word, and can be so completely selfless without realising it. He's somebody who manages to be egotistical and giving, charming and infuriating, hilarious and painfully annoying all at the same time. The real you is the guy I love."

Her words reverberate around the eerily quiet room, her whispering adding a sharpness to the sound.

Castle leans back from her. "I really have you fooled, huh?"

Kate gives him a light eye roll. "You don't have me fooled at all, Castle."

He nods softly, digesting her words. He can't think of any good come back. All he can think is that he really does have her fooled. He's not nearly as good as the way she describes. Some of it, he will attest to, like doing anything for the people he loves. But much of the rest makes him feel like a fraud.

Kate notices the sadness in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" She whispers. "I thought you'd be pretty pleased with all that."

"It's just," He begins. "I don't think that's the real me at all. I'm not nearly as great as all that. I'd do anything for Alexis and mother, yes, but the rest of it isn't really true at all."

Kate sits up, pushing her weight off the wall, and takes his hand.

"Yes it is, Castle." She says sincerely, forcing eye contact. "You need to give yourself more credit, now and in the future. I know you like to keep things light-hearted, and I love that about you, but I think in doing that you forget how great of a person you are."

He laces his fingers into hers. "You really love me, don't you?"

"You thought I was lying?" She asks with a slight laugh.

"Well, I thought you'd love being with the ridiculously handsome, ruthlessly sought after, best selling author Richard Castle, but I didn't really think you'd know much about the rest of it."

"You never miss an opportunity to compliment yourself, do you?" She asks. "And I know we haven't known each other long in your world, but surely you know me well enough by now to know that's not what's going to amaze me in a guy."

"Yeah, I do, but I guess I just hadn't thought about the fact that you know more about me than what I've already shown you. And that is pretty much all I've shown you so far."

She smiles at him in the dim light. "I wouldn't worry Castle. Things don't turn out so bad once I get to know you better."

He gives her one of his devilish grins. "I can see that."

"So please," He says, letting go of her hand and manoeuvring himself to face her. "Can you tell me some details now Beckett's not here to get uncomfortable about it?"

"Hey, that's me you're talking about."

"I mean it in the most loving way possible."

She laughs. "What do you want to know?"

"After the first case we worked and I asked you out for dinner and you said no and did that whole whisper in my ear and saunter away thing, what were you thinking in that moment?"

Kate raises her eyebrows at him, not expecting that question, but slightly amused by it.

"I mean, you act like you are totally repulsed by me now, but I swear in that moment, you were not." He says, with a 'you I'm right' look on his face.

Kate takes a moment to prepare her answer.

"I was not repulsed in that moment." She says simply.

"Seriously? That's all you're giving me? I'm going to forget all this remember?" Castle says, his squeaking voice receiving a 'shush' from Kate.

"Fine." She says. "I thought you were an egotistical playboy, but a charming egotistical playboy that the irresponsible side of me found kind of alluring. Happy?"

"Very." He says with a smug grin. "I knew you have liked me from the beginning. So what's all the yelling about? Sexual frustration? I know it must be hard to resist me on a daily basis."

"Yes, Castle. That's why I yell at you all the time. Not because you're intrusive, or annoying, or making self-centred remarks. I just can't concentrate on my job when you're around because all I want to do is jump you." She says flatly.

"Knew it." He nods. "So when is the first moment you realise you like me as more than a sexy consultant?"

Kate doesn't even acknowledge his self-assigned title. "It hasn't been yet, if that's what you're wondering."

"Damn. I really thought that saving your life on the last case might have done it for you."

"What, pushing me to the ground along with yourself to escape being hit by a bullet was supposed to make me want to go out for dinner with you?"

"Well, some ice-cream at least I would've thought."

Kate laughs. "I am always up for ice-cream."

"Good to know." He says. "Not that I'll remember that. I'm starting to find that fact really annoying. Maybe I could write a list that you could approve and leave it somewhere in my loft."

"What, and give you hints for the future? That would be me you're conning. I don't think so buddy."

"Worth a shot." He says. "So, are you going to tell me the moment you realised?"

She takes a breath, before resolving that there would be no harm in being honest.

"I'm not sure exactly." She says. "It's sort of gradual as well as having always been there. I suppose I'd say it rears its head in about a year. This guy blows my apartment up and you help me out of the wreckage, and after that I remember not being able to act like you didn't mean much to me anymore."

"Someone blows up your apartment?!" Castle asks with a look of anxiety.

"Don't worry, I survive thanks to your gallant actions." She humours him.

"So, you're admitting I save your life that time?"

"That time, I'll let you have." She can't really deny him that one.

"How many times have I saved your life?" He asks, suddenly feeling like a superhero.

"Not nearly as many times as I've saved yours. You keep this ridiculous and completely doctored tally that puts you in the lead." She replies.

"I am sure that I am very truthful when it comes to such serious matters." He tells her, but really he's telling himself.

Kate bites the inside of her cheek as she shakes her head at him.

"Can I ask _you_ something?" She says.

"Please do." Castle replies, eager for her question.

"What did you think when you heard we get together?" She asks.

"Beyond the sex." She adds because she knows him too well.

He smiles at her. "Happy."

"That's it? You're a writer and that's all you're giving me?"

"Amazed. Enchanted. Flabbergasted." He adds with his dramatic Castle air. "And curious."

"Would never have picked that one." She teases.

"Well, there are a lot of questions to ask. Like, why does it take so long?"

"You already asked that in the hotel." She reminds him.

"Yeah, but I didn't get a proper answer."

"It's a mix of bad timing and unwillingness to put our hearts on the line and destroy the partnership. By the time I realised I wanted to be with you, you were already too much a part of my life that I didn't want to risk losing you."

Castle nods, understanding why that would be a dilemma for her. He already knows how hard it is for her to let people in. He's not even in yet. But he doesn't understand why he wouldn't have acted on it.

"What about me? Why don't I say anything?" Castle asks.

Kate smiles and looks down. "I think you'd be better at answering this question, but honestly, you do put yourself out there more than I do. I'm with Josh for quite a while, and it's during that time that I think we both got really serious about each other. I knew how you felt about me, but I wasn't ready to deal with it until I figured some things out. It's largely my fault that it takes so long. But you know, you get back together with Gina before I start dating Josh so really, I think you deserve some of the heat as well."

Castle shudders. "Seriously, what possesses me to do that?"

Kate laughs. "She's not _that_ bad."

"The words of someone who has not had to spend longer than a few consecutive hours with her."

There is silence as the two sit smiling over the conversation past.

"Can I ask you something about your mother's case?" Castle asks tentatively. "I know you didn't want to talk to Beckett about it, but I'm just curious if it moves forward."

Kate gives him a wide smile. "Yeah, it moves forward. I have you to thank for a lot of it."

"We solve it?" He asks excitedly.

"Yes, we solve it." She answers. "But solving it is different to getting justice."

"The person responsible isn't in jail?"

"Not yet. He will be, and he's living in fear of that right now, which is enough for me for the moment."

"How could he not be in jail if you know he did it? And who is it?!" Castle asks impatiently.

"It's a senator. And the evidence isn't enough to press charges, and even if it was, he has connections. I wouldn't just be dead before the case got to trial, but likely so would you and Ryan and Espo and even your family. There is no way putting him behind bars is worth that."

Castle startles at the mentioning of his family being killed for this.

"A senator?" He asks in disbelief. "No wonder it's been so hard to get the truth. And I help?"

"You more than help." She says with a final quality that lets Castle know he shouldn't ask any more questions about it.

"Happy to be of service." He says, injecting some light-heartedness back into the room. "I'm glad you know Kate. You deserve the truth."

She smiles softly at him. "Thanks, Castle."

They hear a couple of light footsteps outside the door before the silence returns.

"Am I allowed to ask about the sex or is that pushing it?"

Kate lets out a jagged breath, thrown by Castle's unwavering ability to completely change the mood.

"Is it good? Just tell me it's good." He almost begs. "I mean I know it will be for me, but I'd want you to think it's great too."

"It's good." She gives him.

"Just good?"

"Castle!" She says with forced exasperation. "It's _really_ good. Okay?"

"Okay." He says with a smirk, satisfied for now.

"At least I know Rick won't be getting bothered with these questions." Kate says, mind drifting to their missing partners.

"Hey, I'm sure they are okay." Castle reassures her, seeing the worry on her face. "You haven't disappeared so we know they haven't killed them."

"Oh, so they could be just being tortured or held prisoner." She bitterly jokes.

"Let's not worry until we have to." Castle says in an effort to calm her.

Kate silently prays her Castle is okay. She might know that Beckett's alive because she has yet to disappear, but there is no way of knowing about him. If they are stuck in a similar situation to her and Castle however, she prays for both Rick and Beckett that things aren't too awkward.

Down the hall in a cramped storage space, Rick fumbles for the light switch at the sound of footsteps.

"We need to turn it off." He says as quietly as he possibly can. "They'll be able to see the light coming from the bottom of the door."

Rick and Beckett both hold their breath as the footsteps fade and then stop. The sound of the door they entered the warehouse in opening and closing lets them know someone is now guarding it.

"Great. We're stuck." Beckett whispers harshly.

"Could be worse. I could be four years ago me." Rick says.

Beckett almost laughs.

"I'll kill you if you repeat this to him, but I think I'd actually prefer that." She responds.

"You wound me, Detective." Rick says, reverting back to his old way of calling her by her job title. The short hair and the business shirts bring it out in him. "That guy would be making all sorts of inappropriate remarks and disrupting the operation. Me, the seasoned veteran of many crime scenes and the boyfriend of future you, will be helpful and protective. I am a far better option than four years ago me."

Beckett isn't afraid to smile slightly in the pitch black closet. Relaxing a little after realising he really isn't much different from the Castle she knows, she decides to be honest.

"Maybe so. But at least I know him. I feel like you're a stranger. But it's scarier than a stranger, because you know all sorts of things about me that I'm unaware of. It's kind of like being trapped with a stalker."

"Wow." Rick says. "Here I am thinking I am being really sweet protecting my girlfriend's past self and she's labelled me a stalker."

"I haven't labelled you anything. It's just kind of weird. I don't know what you know about me. You know things about me I don't even know yet. You know the next four years of my life. And I know nothing about you."

Rick nods in the dark, understanding her point.

"Is that why you've been so reserved? I mean, I remember you being that way four years ago but it wasn't quite as bad as this." Rick asks.

"Yeah, I guess." She replies quietly.

"Don't worry," He reassures. "The stuff I know is all pretty great, and I won't use any of it against you."

"Thank you."

"For now."  
"Castle!"

"It's Rick in this situation, remember? And stay quiet or he'll hear us."

Beckett tried to shuffle back, becoming slightly sweaty from his close proximity to her. The shelves on the side of the storage closet almost immediately met her back.

"Ugh, can you move back at all?" She asks.

Rick tries to manoeuvre himself to give her more space, but it doesn't help much.

"It's probably easier to sit on the floor." He whispers. "Won't be as cramped, and heat rises so it also won't be as hot."

Rick sees her nod, eyes adjusting to the dark, then hears her clothes slide against the sides of the shelves. He feels her leg against his as she sits on the ground, knees bent in the cramped space. Once he feels her settle, he begins to move downwards himself.

"Sorry." He whispers as he bumps her arm on the way down. He manages to fit himself between her and the door, mirroring her sitting position from the opposite side. Their knees are touching as they sit in silence for a moment.

"Now what?"

**Ending it there in an effort not to make it too long – next chapter will go into Beckett and Rick's conversation! Hope you enjoyed it, please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

**So sorry about the delay – I've been so busy this week. I only have one more week until the semester is over so after that I should have a lot more free time! Thanks so much again to everyone who followed, favourited, and reviewed. You guys are the greatest. **

Beckett blinks as Rick's features become easier to discern in the dark. She really wants to get out of here. It feels as though she's practically on top of him.

She's not, of course. They're both sitting on the small square of space on the ground in the closet, his right leg and her left squished together as they lean back against opposing shelves.

"I think the guard is waiting on the outside of the main door." Rick whispers. "At least there's a small comfort in that."

Beckett grunts, not feeling very comforted. She tries once again to find a position in which she isn't so close to him, searching for imaginary space.

"There's no more room, Beckett." Rick tells her. "You know, in a few years you get a lot closer than this."

Beckett's fidgeting stops, but Rick can't make out her expression in the dark.

"I'm suddenly grateful for the darkness, as I'm sure it means that I am able to avoid that deadly glare that's your sending my way right now."

"Don't talk about things like that, please."

"Things like what?" Rick teases.

"Ugh, and Kate says you've changed." Beckett responds, annoyed. "You're exactly the same."

"Why, Detective I was simply referring to all the other times that we get trapped together in the coming years. What did you think I was talking about?"

Now it's Beckett's turn to be grateful for the darkness, as she feels her cheeks turning red.

_God, he's so frustrating. Always knows how to turn a phrase._

"We get trapped a lot?" Beckett asks, deflecting his question.

"Oh, yeah. It's great." Rick says. "Once even with a tiger."

"A tiger?!" Beckett says, slightly alarmed. "And Montgomery still lets you shadow me with all this danger you put me in?"

Rick's quiet for a moment.

"You are the only one who controls me shadowing you in the coming years, Detective. You even fight for me to stay. As for the putting you in danger part, you once told me you feel safer having me around. So really, if it weren't for me the tiger would have eaten you."

Beckett huffs. She can't imagine why she would fight to be annoyed like this every day for the next four years.

"How do we get trapped with a tiger?" She asks.

"Oh, this weird old lady drugs us and then cuffs us together, and throws us in this chamber where she's keeping an illegal tiger for selling."

"Right." Beckett says slowly. "Think you're losing your charm, Castle. Are you making this up?"

"No! Isn't it great? This actually happens!"

"Why would she cuff us together?"

"I've often wondered about that. It wasn't even in the normal right wrist to left either. It was left to left. It made moving around pretty difficult."

"That sounds really uncomfortable." Beckett says, dreading the experience. "How long are we there?"

"About four hours, I'd say."

"And the tiger doesn't eat us in all that time?" Beckett says, finding the story very unbelievable.

"Oh, he was in the next room. But we made the mistake of thinking it was a girl they were trafficking and kicked the wall through. Ryan and Esposito got us out just in time."

"Oh, so it's the boys who save me, not you." Beckett says.

"Uh, no. I protect you from the tiger very gallantly. I even let you climb on top of me so it won't get you first. It's just one of the many times I save your life. Seriously, you're lucky I'm shadowing you. You'd be dead twenty times over if it weren't for me."

"I find that hard to believe." Beckett laughs lightly.

"Believe it. Save you from a burning building next year. Shoot a gun out of a guy's hand that's aiming for you, beat up another one doing the same. I save you and the whole city from a nuclear bomb! Seriously, might as well give me a cape and call me a superhero."

Beckett's head spins. It's too much information at one time.

"Why would I be in a burning building? I'm not a firewoman."

"Ooh." Rick realises his error. "This might be hard to hear, but it's your apartment building. It gets blown up by a psycho obsessed with Nikki Heat."

Beckett's stomach drops. "My apartment gets blown up? And I survive?"

"Yep! I figured out there was a bomb and called you right before it blew, giving you enough time to shield yourself in the bath tub. You were naked when I ran in to get you. Added bonus to being a hero."

"You run in to the building to get me?" Beckett questions, a little more softly. "While its on fire?"

"You were inside, how could I not? Wasn't going to wait for the fire brigade to arrive in case you burned to death during that time."

Beckett feels her heart swell ever so slightly. When she first met him, she would never have thought of Castle as somebody who looked out for anybody but number one. But when she heard him talk about Alexis, and even when he would complain about his mother, she knew there was a caring side to him that was reserved for those two family members. However, she never would have thought of him as the type to run into a burning building to save anybody other than Alexis or Martha. He wasn't exactly a macho guy. He was the guy who would be able to tell you the details about every fire that had burned in the New York area in the last 100 years, but you would never want him in charge of the rescue team if you were caught between the flames. And yet, he ran into a burning building for her, even though it probably looked like she was already dead and a fire truck was on its way.

"Do I lose everything?" She asks hesitantly.

"Mostly, yes." Rick breaks to her. "You salvage a few things. I remember you saying most of the important stuff was okay."

Beckett nods, suddenly understanding why Kate told her to put some of her stuff into a storage locker. She would definitely be doing that.

"And it's because of Nikki Heat?"

"Yeah – my bad on that one." Rick says. "But it's like you say to me – can't blame Jodie Foster for John Hinckley."

Beckett can't help but smile. "Yeah, I guess you can't."

There's a soft silence, the first in which Beckett feels relaxed in his presence. It's such a curious thing to be sitting with someone who knows you so intimately, when all you've been trying to do recently is keep them from knowing too much.

"So, where do I live now?"

"Oh, you find another place not too far from where you are now. It's nicer actually, so you can thank the psycho for the upgrade really." Rick says.

"You like it?"

"I love your apartment. It's cute - very you. Mix of the old and the new, extremely organised. You keep your Nebula 9 DVDs in a mahogany chest of drawers. It's a travesty, but it makes sense when it comes to you."

Beckett's stomach drops, and the relaxation she was feeling is sucked out her.

"Nebula 9?" She asks, trying to keep her voice from quivering. _How much does he know?_

Rick laughs. "Mhmm. I have to say, it is probably one of my favourite things I have on you. I wish it was lighter in here so I could see your ears going red. They always do when I bring it up."

"So what? I was a fan. Everyone watches TV shows. God knows you do." Beckett tries to play it cool, praying he just thinks she was a simple fan. She can't imagine, being in love with him or not, _ever_ revealing her passion for the sci-fi show to _anyone_.

"Oh, Beckett. We both know you weren't a regular fan. You dressed up in costume!"

Beckett winces.

"It looked good on you. Well, it did in the picture. In real life, I could have done without the creaver mask."

"Excuse me? In real life?"

"I do manage to get you to try it on for me through enduring a torturous evening watching the _whole_ show with you, but because you're mean you don't properly live up to your end of the bargain. You scare the fuck out of me with that creepy mask."

Beckett's mortified, but almost wants to laugh at the thought of Castle being terrified of the mask. Especially if he thought he was going to get some sexy show. She feels a shiver down her spine. Castle makes her so on edge a lot of the time, a prying annoyance at her side that she does her best to contain. It's weird to think in a few years she'll be comfortable enough with him to try on costumes for him in his bedroom. It's also a _tiny _bit appealing. She wonders what his bedroom looks like.

_Not the time to be thinking about that, Kate._

"I'm sure you deserve the scare." Beckett says in a clipped tone, indicating she doesn't want to talk about this anymore.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I know the show means a lot to you, okay? I just enjoy that Detective Kate Beckett, famously known for her interrogation room techniques and tenacity, used to cosplay."

Beckett stays silent. Of course he'd find that wonderful. Her cheeks are hot, only adding to her body temperature. They both are covered in a slight sweat from being cramped together in such a small space.

"Want to hear about all the bad guys we catch?" Rick asks in that excited tone she's come to know already. She can't help but think it's sweet, him trying to change the subject so she can stop feeling embarrassed.

"I think I'd rather hear about how you and I come to be, uh, together, I guess." She says in a bold move, though her tone doesn't reflect the bravery of the comment.

"Really?" He replies, a small pitch in his voice. "Oh, this is great. I can give you a grand Castle run down –"

"No." She interrupts him. "I want to know, but please. Not the Castle version. The real version – the one where you don't waste five minutes before getting to the point."

"Ah, you're no fun. It is a pretty good story on its own, I have to say."

"Well?"

"Well," He begins, then falters. He's unsure exactly where _to _begin. "I don't even know where to start honestly. Let me think, what happens after this."

His fingers dance along his chin as he chooses the beginning for their story. He spent some nights in the year between Kate being shot and the two of them coming together mulling over when their relationship went through its stages. From biting attraction, to playful banter, to friendship, to a period of denial, to love, to patience, to _finally_. He could never quite pinpoint the moment when she stopped pretending to hate having him around. She never really let on that she liked him having him there until he got the James Bond offer, and he saw the worry in her eyes when he told her he was thinking about taking it. Eyes that said 'don't go, but I don't want to tell you I don't want you to go'.

"I suppose you could say there never really was a beginning point. You and I just happened, you know? It was there when we met. We came into each other's live by accident, or by chance rather. There was never a choice. You fell into my life, and I fell into yours. There was no way to pull myself up and out after the fall. It's why I had to stay."

"Oh, that's why?" Beckett teases. "It had nothing to do with a call to the mayor and a desire to play cop."

"Nope, none." Rick dismisses. "Once I met you, there was no going back. I'm positive that if I hadn't started following you, we would have just kept bumping into each other until you finally agreed to go on a date with me. We're fate, you and me."

Beckett rolls her eyes. "Please. We're chance."

"Fate, I tell you." He insists. "It's too unlikely to be chance. I meet you, I find the inspiration for my next set of hit novels, I find a way to occupy my time which I actually feel is befitting of my character, I find the girl I've both read and written about my entire life. You meet me, you solve _way _more cases, you find more leads in your mother's case, you get your life saved numerous times, you find a ridiculously handsome, unbelievably talented, rich, successful boyfriend. The universe is not that kind with chance. We're fate."

"Who's to say none of those things would have happened if we had never met? You might have met an FBI agent who got your fingers typing, I might have continued looking into my mom's case on my own, I might have ended up dating someone way more rich and handsome than you. Chance is cruel, you did say."

"Please. You're embarrassing yourself. We're fate – accept it."

"Never."

"Have you learned nothing from the Biebs, Beckett? Never say never."

"Who?"

"Oh my god, you haven't had the pleasure of experiencing the caramel fringe yet. I keep forgetting we're in 2009."

"Well, please don't forget that we are hiding right now. Keep your voice down."

"Yes, mom." He says in an exaggerated whisper.

She ignores him.

"So, there might not be a beginning point, but when does it become an obvious…romantic thing?" The word tastes strange on her tongue.

Beckett has never really been the romantic type. Even as a teenager, she was just looking to have fun. And then once her mom had died, she never got close enough to any guy for it to be romantic. They were always for fun, for a release. Will was probably the closest she came to romance, but the problem was he wasn't fun enough. He was too like her in the business sense, very serious about his job. And sure they could laugh together but there was nothing particularly exciting or ridiculous about him. She could be romantic with him, without ever really feeling the romance. But with Castle, and with what she'd seen on the couch earlier – both times – and what Kate has said, Beckett knows it's romance.

"Well, let's be honest here. We've both wanted to bang since the first case."

Beckett startles at his bluntness. "I have not. I told you this."

"No, you told me you didn't want to be with me from the moment we met – still think it's a lie, by the way. But come on, at least admit the attraction has been there since that first interrogation."

Beckett's stiffens her jaw for a moment. "Fine."

"Good girl." He smiles. "That'd be stupid to pretend at least that wasn't there."

"Don't call me by your condescending nicknames."

"Would you prefer royal highness? Detective the Great?"

"Shut up and get on with the story." She tells him sharply.

Rick smiles. If there's been one constant with Beckett, it's that she is always up for listening to one of his stories.

"Well, like I said – the attraction was always there. After your apartment blows up is when I decide that, yes, I do think I'd like for her to not only enter my bed, but enter my kitchen, and my family dinners, and my holidays."

Beckett smiles to herself, leaning more of her weight against the shelves behind her. She is finally starting to really see Kate's point about him being different to what she thinks. It's not that he's not egotistical, or childlike, or annoying. He's all of those things as well as a whole bunch of others. Sweet, caring, sensitive. She's pleased, if she admits it to herself. For as much time as she spends yelling at him and acting annoyed by his foolishness, she simultaneously finds the nine year old on a sugar rush charming and fun. She's glad that's actually a part of him. As embarrassing as it might prove to be in the future, when she introduces a middle-aged man who enjoys playing laser tag as her boyfriend to others.

"But then stupid Demming moves in before I can do anything about it. So I start dating Gina instead, which is dumb for obvious reasons, but also because I shouldn't have started dating someone when I knew how I felt about you. Even if you did have a boyfriend, and even if Gina was a pain in the ass, I should have taken the time to process it and then move on."

"Castle is pretty mad about the fact that you get back with Gina." Beckett reminds him.

"Yeah, seriously. See, that's how much you screw me up."

Beckett can't stop the sympathy she feels for him welling up inside her. He's like a puppy. Soft and cuddly and doesn't deal well with being hurt, but only wants to be loved and will love fiercely in return.

"Sorry." She says. "What happens after that?"

"Well we don't see each other for a while, because I leave for the summer to write but really, I just didn't want to watch you be with Demming." He tells her honestly. "When we start working together again, you're with Josh and I'm still with Gina so even though there's something there, we pretend there isn't. We're excellent at that."

Beckett can't help but think she's always been excellent at that. Pretending.

"Our first kiss happens not too long after that though. It's undercover, and it's _awesome_."

"Wait, we kiss when we are still with other people?" Beckett asks warily. Sure, she can imagine being with a guy even though there's somebody else she cares about more, but she's never been a cheater.

"Yes, but it's undercover. And it's only the once." He reassures her. "Well, technically it's two kisses, but at the one time."

"Why would we need to kiss undercover?" She interrogates.

"Trying to get into a building. Needed to trick the guard. I thought it was the easiest way to do so."

"Of course you did."

"Don't take that tone with me - it works! And also, I just give you a simple little kiss. You're the one that practically attacks me with your tongue, even though it was really unnecessary."  
Beckett feels her cheeks grow hot. She's never had very good impulse control. She can hold a resolve quite well, but as soon as there is a crack in the damn wall, the whole thing comes crashing down.

"And that's it? We just don't kiss again?"

"Nope. We don't even talk about it. We really suck at things that are not subtext."

Beckett can imagine herself not wanting to talk about it afterwards, but can't see how she would be able to hold herself back after something like that. God, she even finds it hard not to kiss him sometimes now, when she can hardly stand him. She can't imagine being able to stay away once she's in love with him and has the memory of his tongue inside her mouth. She knows he's a good kisser already. It's just a fact, without her having any actual proof. Some things you just know.

She needs to stop thinking about this.

"How long is it after that that we get together?"

"Over a year. I break up with Gina around the same time of that kiss, and you break up with Josh a few months later."

A year? How does she survive?

"Do you know why we break up? Or why you and Gina break up?"

"We both knew we weren't in love, and I'd had enough of pretending like it was possible to be in a relationship with someone who wasn't you while I felt the way I did. As for you and Josh, well, from what you've told me, it seems like it was sort of the same deal. You spared me a lot of the details, but you did say he was pretty mad at you for breaking it off."

"Great." Beckett says dryly.

"Don't worry, I make it up to you with some fantastic sex."

Beckett actually laughs this time, the first time she hasn't felt uncomfortable with the subject of intimacy raised.

"It better be good with all this shit we have to go through to get there, or else that would just be very disappointing."

"I knew it. You're just using me for my body. I'll have you know I'm also an excellent inventor of delicious food creations, and I'm an Xbox master. Think about that before reducing me to a piece of meat."

Beckett laughs without inhibition now and Rick can't help but feel his heart tick in that place reserved only for her. It's nice to be accepted by this Beckett.

Suddenly they heard a loud crash from the entrance door smashing shut, vibrating the walls.

Beckett's laugh echoes in the closet, their conversation taking them momentarily away from where they were.

They both freeze at the sound of footsteps approaching the storage closet door.

Rick, who is on the side closer to the door, puts his arm across Beckett as to shield her from the threat. She clutches his arm instinctively and squeezes hard when they hear the knob start to turn.

**:)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

**Happy birthday AC! I made sure to update today just for you.**

**Thanks again to everybody who reviewed!**

Both Rick and Beckett squeeze their eyes shut as the door opens, bracing themselves to be pulled out by a couple of thugs.

"Beckett? Castle?"

Beckett's head snaps up at the familiar voice of Esposito, her face scrunching up as her eyes adjust to the light.

"Well, doesn't this look cosy?" Ryan teases.

Beckett immediately releases her grip on Rick's forearm.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rick asks.

"What are you talking about?" Esposito responds, confusion crowding his features. "Beckett called us."

"Guys, keep it down and get in. The gangsters are still out there!" Beckett tries to usher the boys inside the already cramped space.

"Beckett, we got 'em." Ryan tells her, giving her a strange look. "That's why you called us? Said you were trapped and needed us to move in. We've had a team infiltrate from the back. They are taking the thugs back to the precinct now."

Relief sweeps through Beckett and Rick, and she gives a sigh of relief.

"Right, yeah. Sorry. We've just been cramped up in here for _way_ too long."

"Yeah." Ryan and Esposito nod, not totally convinced.

"How long have you guys been in there for?" Esposito asks.

"Not too long."

"Forever."

Beckett and Rick speak at the same time.

"Oh, come on. It was not that bad! You know you started to like it by the end." Rick defends.

"Pshh." Beckett rolls here eyes. "I was stuck in a one by one with you for two hours at least. You're right, I _loved_ it."

"That was half an hour, tops."

"It was not! Definitely over an hour and a half."

"Under forty-five minutes, for sure."

"Guys!" Ryan and Esposito shout.

"As much as we'd love to stay here in this creepy warehouse and listen to the two of you argue, we might want to think about getting out of here."

It's then that Beckett is struck by a wave of panic. Kate and Castle.

Where are they? Have they got out? Clearly it was Kate who called Ryan and Esposito. They must have got out if she did that – surely she wouldn't risk the boys realising that they were doubled in trouble right now. She had called them to help them get out. Yeah. But then, why wouldn't Kate and Castle have just come looking for them? Maybe they didn't want to risk the four of them being seen together.

Beckett feels a hand roughly latch onto her forearm. Rick gives her a glare, and she knows he's thinking the same thing as her.

"Uh, you guys head on out." Beckett says to the boys. "I think I dropped an earring back here, I'm just going to try and look for it. Meet you at the car."

_Come up with a lamer excuse next time Kate. Seriously._

"You're not wearing earrings." Ryan tells her.

Beckett freezes. "Right."

She forces a smile as the boys look at her strangely, then turn to head towards the door. Rick shakes her arm, panicking.

"What do we do?" He mouths, crazed look on his face.

"I don't know." She angrily mouths back, snatching her arm back from him.

"Uh, I really need to pee." Rick announces. "I'm just gonna find a spot. Meet you at the car."

"Seriously? Were you guys making out in that closet or something? Did we interrupt? Because we can leave you here and you can call your own damn taxi to get you home." Esposito tells them.

Castle scrunches up his eyes. "We're coming."

The boys head out the door as Beckett and Rick exchange worried glances.

"They'll be fine." Beckett whispers in his ear, trying to reassure them both. "They probably got out and that's why they called the boys for us."

Rick nods, trying to convince himself that that's the case. He can't just leave Kate here.

_It's all right. They got the guys. Even if they are still there, they won't be hurt._

Rick takes a breath, realising that he's most likely right. If they were hurt, the boys would know and would be freaking out about finding their replicas in a storage closet.

As they get to Ryan's car, Esposito gives Rick a sideways glance.

"Dude, is something different? Are you feeling sick or something?"

"What? No." Rick answers quickly.

"You do look a little different." Ryan joins in, now tilting his neck as he looks at Rick also. "Did you change from this morning?"

"Yes! That's it. I spilled coffee on myself. Idiot. I went home and changed." Rick's thankful for the easy excuse.

"I don't know, man. Something is definitely off." Esposito continues.

"Guys!" Beckett interjects. "Can you unlock the car? He probably looks different because he's freezing, just like I am."

"Sorry." Ryan says, quickly getting out his keys.

Rick throws Beckett a thankful glance as they open their respective car doors and get into the backseat.

"So, Beckett. You don't look so sick. Did the upstanding Detective Kate Beckett finally fake a sickie?" Ryan teases as they pull out onto the road.

"Yeah. The paperwork getting too much? Your stint down in holding get the best of you?" Esposito joins in.

"Yeah, Beckett. What happened?" Rick decides to have a little fun also, for which he receives a whack in the arm.

"No!" Beckett defends. "I felt awful this morning but by the afternoon it had passed, and I received a tip-off from a friend about this location so I thought I'd come check it out."

Beckett prays Kate hasn't told them too much, or has said something of a similar nature, hoping she hasn't just screwed over her future self.

"Riiiight." Ryan stretches. "So, your first instinct upon receiving a tip-off _from a friend_ was not to notify us or the precinct in any way, but was to call Castle and go into a warehouse full of thugs with him as your only back-up?"

Beckett and Rick both look at each other with 'Oh, shit' written all over their faces. This has clearly not been thought through.

"Yeah, Beckett. Could definitely have been a little smarter there." Rick suddenly snaps out of their worried exchange.

She shoots daggers at him with her eyes.

"The tip-off said that they wouldn't be there. It just said it was the warehouse they hang out at. I didn't think it would hurt to look, and Castle had come over to check on me as I was leaving, and then wouldn't leave me alone." She lies.

"Oh, is that why he was there?" Esposito grins.

Rick can't help but grin right along with him. "Well actually, Esposito – "

Beckett quickly kicks him in the shin, and Rick lets out a yelp. The boys snigger in the front seat.

"Yes." Beckett says bluntly. "That is the _only _reason he was there."

"I didn't even realise you knew where Beckett's apartment was, Castle." Ryan continues.

"Yeah, do you go there often?" Esposito isn't backing down either. It's just too much fun.

Rick opens his mouth to reply but is stopped by Beckett's hand over his lips.

"He's never been before. Must've stalked me to find out where I live."

"Please, stalking is not my style. My clothes are far too nice to sit outside surveying people from crappy park benches. I used my guy."

"You have a guy for people's home addresses?" Ryan asks.

"I have a guy everywhere, for everything." Rick shows off.

Beckett rolls her eyes.

Rick looks out the window and realises they are just a couple of blocks down from his apartment building.

"Hey, actually guys, do you mind dropping me home?" He asks.

Beckett gives him a worried look that says 'What are you doing?'.

He gives her a reassuring nod, then adds, "I want to check on Alexis. I didn't tell her I was going to be out tonight."

"Yeah, sure." Ryan replies.

Beckett is still very unsure of what Rick's plan is here, and tries her hardest not to follow him as he gets out of the car.

"I'll see you guys in the morning." He says, as he leans his back in through the open door, giving Beckett a look that tells her he has a plan.

A moment after they pull away from the curb and start to head towards the precinct, Beckett feels her phone vibrate.

_Castle told me Martha and Alexis are away. I'll be fine – going to check on Kate. Get back here when you can._

Beckett knows the text was meant to make her feel better, but it only makes her worry about him more. It's irrational, she knows, because they have taken all the gangsters back to the precinct. But she still fears Rick heading back to the warehouse alone, especially when they have no idea where Kate and Castle are.

* * *

Back in the cold, dimly lit room in the warehouse, Kate and Castle are still sitting on the floor. Kate called Ryan and Esposito over an hour ago, telling them to come to their location with a team because they had discovered a group of shady gangsters who were involved in numerous illegal activities. That was all the information she had given them.

The two of them had concocted this plan, whereby Beckett and Rick would hopefully be saved and the two of them would just wait it out until Ryan and Esposito had come through with their team and had got everyone out. All they had to was hide to make sure nobody saw them and took back the wrong Castle and Beckett. They could get away with Rick looking the way he does now without setting off too many alarm bells in the boys heads, but there was no way they weren't going to notice the changes in her. Besides, this way, both Kate and Castle felt better about the fact that they were helping their respective partners get to safety.

"Okay, we heard the last sounds fifteen minutes ago now." Castle says, picking himself up off the floor. "Ready to brave the hallway, check that it's all clear?"

Kate hesitates for a moment, then nods.

Castle offers her his hand which she accepts, and she pushes herself off the ground with his help. He steadies her once she's upright, putting his hand around the back of her waist. Their faces are mere inches apart, and Kate smirks.

"Easy there, bucko. All in good time."

Castle grins, and then adds sarcastically, "Yeah, a very long time."

Kate shakes her head at him as she heads for the door.

She slowly twists the handle and inch by inch moves the door in her direction as she peeks around the corner, gun drawn. She sees that the passage is clear and nods to Castle.

Opening the door properly now, she heads out into the hallway, gun at the ready, and finds nobody there.

"All right, Castle." She says. "Looks like we're good to go."

"Woohoo!" He shouts with glee as he exits out of the room, his exclamation bouncing off the stone cold walls of the warehouse.

Kate gives him a look of exasperation. "Would you shut up?"

_At least he doesn't do shit like that anymore, _she thinks to herself.

"You still have the keys, right?" Castle asks her.

"Yeah." She says, as they walk out the front door of the warehouse.

She stops.

"Where do we go? We can't go to the precinct. Back to the hotel?"

"Oh, yeah." Castle says, slightly dejected. "Damn, that's no fun."

Kate rolls her eyes at him, smirking.

"You don't think coming back to a hotel with me is fun, Castle?" She teases.

His eyes grow wide. "I would think that would be very fun if I didn't know better in this situation. Like you'd let anything happen with Grace there."

"Like I'd let anything happen between these versions of ourselves, more like." She throws back.

"You never know, Detective. I might not be as great in bed as I am now in a few years. You may have missed me in my peak. I think it would be very irresponsible of you not to check."

"Trust me – I have not missed you in your peak. And if I have, I don't think I could handle anything more." She says with a knowing smile as she spots her car.

Castle grins. "See now, this is just torture. Remind me again why I have to wait over three years?"

"Because I like to bide my time, and make you beg." She teases him.

"You are a cruel woman, Detective Beckett."

"Don't expect four years to change that, Mr Castle."

* * *

Rick doesn't have the key to his loft on him, but he gets Janey at the front desk to give him his spare that he keeps there for, well not exactly situations like these, but he does always forget his keys.

Getting inside, he immediately heads to the bedroom to change and find the keys to his own car.

_Shit, _he remembers. _Past me drove that to the hotel._

He'll take a taxi, he decides. He grabs his phone, hesitating for a moment over whether to risk calling Kate.

What if she's hiding and her ringtone blows her cover?

_No, no. She's okay. They got the guys. She's probably waiting for his call._

Before he can reconsider, he dials the number. Grace had got her a temporary phone for her time here. He was lucky to have his on him when he came back in time. Which got him thinking – how do phone plans work with time travel? Because he was definitely on a different plan four years ago to the one that he's on now.

"Castle?" Kate's voice brings him out of his voice.

"Kate?" He says with happy relief. "Are you okay? Where are you?"

"We're fine! Heading back to the hotel now. You and Beckett got out okay?"

He can hear the relief in her voice too.

"Yeah, we did. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He hears the smirk in her voice, which tells him he should repay her later using no words at all.

"Are you at the precinct?" She asks.

"No, I got dropped home. I was just coming to look for you."  
"Beckett's not with you?"

"No, I told her to meet me at my loft though so I'll wait for her here and then I'll come over, okay?"

"Okay." She says. "I miss you."

"Hey, I'm sitting right here!" Rick hears his past self say in the background.

"You know, I remember being annoyed by you, but I don't remember you being _this _annoying." Kate says into the phone.

Rick chuckles. "I miss you too."

"How pathetic are we? We've only been apart for a few hours. Although technically, we are still with each other."

"I think we get a pass because these past few hours have only reminded us of how far we've come. At least, they did for me. I felt like I was with a whole other person in that storage closet, as cute as she might have been."

"Storage closet? Oh my god, poor little me."

"I will have you know, I was perfectly gentlemanly. I even had her laughing by the end of it. She's totally warmed up to me." Rick defends.

Kate laughs. "I'll be the judge of that."

Rick hears Castle mock her laughter in the background. "Can you get off the phone please? I really don't want to die because you're too busy being far too mushy with my future self to concentrate on the road."

Suddenly, Rick hears his younger self's voice become louder through the phone. "Seriously, man. Getting way too soft."

"Get away." He hears Kate tell him. "Alright, I'll see you soon. Make sure Beckett is okay."

"I will. See you soon." He smiles into the phone as he hangs up.

A crack of lightning startles him outside his window. He hadn't even noticed it was raining.

Now that he's calmed down, he takes a moment to look around his apartment. Had you asked him when he got up today if his place had been any different four years ago than it was now, he would have told you no – nothing had changed. He hadn't moved any furniture or bought anything too significantly different. And yet, as he looked around his living room he realised it was a lot less…Kate. Slowly but surely, she had left signs of herself, her presence at his loft in the near year they had been together. Her fuzzy blanket on the sofa, her personalised coffee mug on the kitchen counter, her scented candles on the bookshelves. She'd even snuck in a few elephant figurines on a random shelf or two, in the living room and in his study. Leaving signs of herself as if she owned the place, and he loved it. He could imagine the look on her face as she planted those figurines too; that sneaky, sexy smirk that would colour her cute, and would only come out in some of her completely carefree and happy moments. In the first four years of their partnership, those moments had been virtually non-existent. In the past year, he had seen them countless times, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud that it was mostly because of him that she'd felt unburdened enough in her life to now have moments where she could let completely loose.

A knock on the door takes him from his survey of his past living room. Beckett's here.

He opens the door to find a sopping wet Beckett, water droplets falling from the ends of her short hair, mascara slightly smudged, and he can't help but remember the last time he opened the door to a very similar situation. He can't help the feeling that occurs below the belt at the thought; it was a great night.

Beckett however, is clearly not feeling the love.

"Are you going to invite me in and get me a towel, or leave me here until I've aged ten years from the water crinkling my skin?" She asks gruffly.

"Right, sorry. Come in." He says, ushering her inside and running to grab a towel.

When he gets back she has shrugged her jacket off, and her white shirt is sticking to her pale skin. Rick swallows at the sight, and then shakes himself.

_So inappropriate right now_.

He wraps the towel around her, and starts rubbing her back and arms to help her get dry. She immediately recesses, giving him a weird look.

"Sorry." He says. "I'm used to touching you now."

Her body softens a little. "Well, I'm not."

"Think of it as a free three second massage."

Beckett can't help the laugh that explodes from her mouth.

"Scored myself a bargain." She smiles at him, free of inhibition.

He grins back at her, and they stay smiling like that at each other for several moments.

Her eyes drop to his mouth and then come back up to his eyes and _oh_, he knows that look. And that is not good, and certainly not something he saw from this Kate Beckett when knew her at this time. He knows what she's thinking, and _shit_, she's also now biting her lip.

As soon as he sees her move forward a fraction, he quickly sidesteps past her in the most graceless move of all time and grabs a rogue mug sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Coffee?"

**Please Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

**Shout out to Cofkett for leaving my favourite review of last chapter – "Dude!". It made me smile a lot.**

**Big thanks to my new Beta Thay (msTGR) !**

**Also, look at me go. Third update this week! All your love deserves the credit.**

Beckett chastises herself, frozen in embarrassment. What was she thinking?

She manages to nod at Rick's offer to make her a coffee and he quickly gets to work, pretending as though he didn't realise what she was just about to do before he moved out of the way.

_He_ moved out of the way. Had you asked her previously about how she thought a situation in which the two of them almost kiss would go, she definitely would have thought their roles would have been reversed. And if you told her that she would be the one who leaned in to kiss him, she at least never would have imagined that he'd do anything but enthusiastically respond.

Beckett closes her eyes, trying to control the blush on her cheeks and the embarrassment in her stomach. She rubs the towel over her face, giving herself a moment to scrunch up her eyes in frustration with herself.

"Here you go." Rick says rather quietly, placing a steaming mug in front of the stools by the kitchen counter.

Despite wanting to be as far away from him as possible right now, the warmth radiating from the coffee draws the freezing detective in.

She sits down on the stool, the now damp towel still wrapped around her, and shivers when she clasps her hands around the mug.

"You must be freezing. I'll get you some dry clothes before we go." Rick says, simultaneously wanting to comfort her and to find an excuse to leave the awkward situation for a moment.

"No, you don't have to do that." Beckett urges. "I'm fine."

"Don't be silly, you're freezing." Rick says. "Besides, we shouldn't be in a car in this weather. We should wait for the storm to pass before we go."

Beckett can't come up with any objection and before she knows it, Rick has disappeared into his study.

She huffs in her place, bringing the hot mug to her chest in an effort to warm herself.

Just a few minutes ago, things were so easy between them. Now the air was thick, and despite the howling storm, the loft seemed eerily quiet. Awkward.

_Idiot. Idiot. Idiot._

What was she thinking? She tried to kiss Castle! _Castle_! If she was going to thank God for small mercies, she could at least be thankful it was this Castle, and not the one from her time. He would be teasing her relentlessly. After enthusiastically responding to the kiss, mind you. On the other hand, maybe it was somehow worse that it was Rick. Is it cheating if technically he is _her _boyfriend? Just a few years early. It still feels weird, when his girlfriend is across town in a hotel room. There was no way Kate would be happy with this – Beckett would know, she is Kate after all. She has to stop thinking of them as separate people – they're the same, just a few years out. Maybe it's not so bad then. Rick is Kate's boyfriend, and she is Kate. Therefore, she should be able to kiss Rick and not feel bad about it. Except she does feel bad, even if they never got to the actual kissing part.

"Here you go." Rick emerges from his study, bundle of warm clothes in his arms. "I forgot that this is before, and assumed you'd have stuff here. Obviously, you don't, so I just got you one of my sweatshirts and I don't actually know where these sweatpants came from, or whose they are, but they feel warm."

Beckett's nose pinches as she looks up at him.

"Yeah, knew you wouldn't like that. But I checked, they're clean! And you don't have much else of a choice unless you want to wear Alexis's stuff. But she's what, 15 at this time? Not as tall as you either. I don't imagine it would be a comfortable experience."

Beckett sighs, realising she should just take what she's given as she grabs the clothes from his hands. They _are_ really soft.

"Do you want to shower? It's raining pretty hard. If we are going to be here for a while, you might as well warm up properly. Don't want to catch a cold."

Beckett almost refuses, but the soaking wet fabric attached to her back forces her to accept.

"Yes please. Thank you, Castle." She says as she picks herself up off the stool.

"It's Rick." He corrects her.

She lifts her head to meet his eye, and notices they are the same in proximity as they were a few moments ago by the door. A flicker of desire emerges in her stomach. They were closer than this, much closer, in the closet at the warehouse, and she didn't feel anything but fear about being trapped with him. And that was fear of his knowledge about her, it wasn't anything physical. A dumb joke about a massage and what, he's irresistible to her now? What had changed within a few minutes that made him seem so…_kissable_ right now?

"It's just us here. There's no confusion." Beckett replies, unable to move herself away just yet. "It can be Castle."

He feels her breath on his face, and swallows. The name thing always gets him. Castle – it's what she's always called him. Before he came to work at the 12th, it was Richard Castle by fans, Richard by his mother, Dad by Alexis, Ricky by his friends, and Rick by his girlfriends. Once he started playing cop, it was Castle by everyone who came to know him through his work at the 12th. And Beckett had started it. Right off the bat, he was Castle to her, and he loved it. In the beginning it made him feel cool – like he was a real cop. As time progressed, it became a comfort – a reminder of just how crazy yet wonderful this phase of his life has been. And here she is, standing in front of him with her short hair and drenched pantsuit and it's like she _knows_ that already. She's Kate.

The softness in her eyes flashes him back to the million other times she's looked at him the same way – the first being when her hair was much longer and lighter, the last being on the couch in the hotel this afternoon. It had gone from sporadic to regular, and it had begun so much later than this. He always joked with her that she fell for him the moment they met, but in his heart he knew he was kidding himself. Sure, he thought she was attracted to him when they met, but he was there. She was definitely annoyed by his presence, and he was absolutely thrilled to be in hers. He fell first, he'd always known.

But now she's here, and she's looking at him like this after only having known him for a month and it's as though she already loves him.

Maybe it's just this him, and she's confused because she knows they'll be together in a few years and is acting accordingly. Because she doesn't _really_ know him, not yet. And they haven't been through everything he and Kate have, so the love isn't as rich. But that look she's giving him makes it feel like it is.

"Are you going to have a shower?" He barely croaks out.

She slowly sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, and it's as though she's teasing him. Her gaze drops to his mouth for a moment; her infallible tell. Her eyelashes gradually ascend and her eyes are back sparkling into his, and she seems to be a little closer now.

"I don't know where the bathroom is." She whispers, daring him to close the gap between them.

She doesn't know where the bathroom is. This is only the third or fourth time she's been here. She's Beckett, not Kate. He can't.

Rick closes his fingers around her elbow and slides his hand down her arm to meet hers. Loosely grasping her fingers, he steps away and gently pulls her in the direction of his study. He doesn't want to make her feel like he's rejecting her – he felt the hurt and embarrassment emanating from her a few minutes ago, and she shouldn't feel it again. Because she shouldn't be hurt or embarrassed – he wants to kiss her, and he wants her period, but she's not Kate yet even though she looks at him like she is.

Beckett's unsure of what's happening as he leads her quietly through the doors of his study. Is he rejecting her again? It doesn't feel like it with his hand lovingly grasped in hers. She knows he's not taking her to bed, so he must just be taking her to the bathroom. Beckett knows that's the right thing to do – she'd feel awful if Kate found out. Which is ridiculous, but she still would. Still, Beckett can't help but be a little disappointed. Just one kiss is all she wants – one taste of the future.

He opens the door to his bedroom and she curiously peeks inside. It's very masculine and organised – nothing too flamboyant. Rich colours, lots of space. His bed looks insanely comfortable.

He leads her to his bathroom, and there's an intimacy in the fact that he brought her to this bathroom, and not one of the others upstairs. He's letting her know he loves her, and he wants her there, but that he can't. Beckett's heart warms a little. Who knew Richard Castle could be so faithful as to not even take the chance to get some action with his own girlfriend?

She hums in amusement when she sees the life-size Boba Fett by his shower.

"Like to have him looking at you while you undress?" She asks.

"He keeps watch over my hair products."

Beckett smiles. It's unabashedly Castle.

"There's spare towels in the drawer, and I'll even let you use my fancy shampoo that's already in the shower." He tells her.

"Oh my, don't I feel special."

"You should." He nods cutely, his eyes letting her know there is a double meaning in his statement. "I'll leave your clothes on my bed."

"Thanks Castle." She says as she looks him in the eye, a reference to earlier. Before she can talk herself out of it, Beckett leans in and plants her lips on his cheek. She holds them there for a moment, her hand lightly cupping the other side of his face, and then draws back. Her thumb softly traces his cheekbone before she drops her arm and pushes him out of the bathroom.

"See you in a bit!"

The door is shut in his face before he can register what's happening, and Rick stands there flabbergasted for several moments before he can will himself to move to the kitchen.

* * *

"You're back! Finally!" Grace all but shouts, as she rushes off the couch towards Kate and Castle as they enter the hotel room. "How'd it go?"

"Good. We got them. Didn't expect to get trapped like we did, but pretty much all went according to plan." Kate smiles.

Grace squeals, hugs Kate, and then drops to her knees for dramatic effect.

"Thank you God!" She shouts, gesturing to the heavens.

Castle laughs at her. He likes this girl.

Kate shakes her head. Of course he thinks the dramatic young girl is fantastic. Grace reminds Kate a lot of Castle in some ways.

Grace gets to her feet and gives a huge sigh of relief.

"Thank you so much, Kate." She says earnestly. "You too, Castle. This means everything to me."

"I'm just glad we could help. It's not often I get to save a life, the victims are always already dead when I get there."

"Don't be silly, you save lives all the time." Castle says. "Every time you put a murderer behind bars, you save the lives of every person they would have hurt in the future."

Kate smiles at him. He always knows what to say.

"Where are the other two?" Grace asks.

"We got separated. They should be here soon, if this storm ever passes." Kate answers.

Grace nods. "In that case, I think I'll head to bed. Thanks again, you guys."

"No problem. Good night."

"Night." Castle throws in. "Kate?"

"Mmm?" She hums in response.

"Do you think they'll even be able to get here? This storm is pretty intense." Castle says as he peers out the window just as the thunder cracks.

"Hopefully." Kate answers. "I don't want them driving in this weather though."

"Yeah, me neither." Castle says with a frown as he continues to watch the rain pour.

Kate notices his seriousness and smiles to herself when she recognises his concern for Beckett.

"She'll be fine. He'll look after her." Kate nudges him.

"I know. He's me. I'm very gentlemanly like that."

"Ah." She smiles.

"So, what do you want to do? Probably shouldn't watch TV while Grace is trying to get to sleep." Castle says, spying a deck of cards. "Ooh, poker?"

"Bring it on, Mr. Castle."

"Have we ever played before?" He asks.

"Oh, yes. I wipe the floor with you all the time."

"Please. I'd think with you being a detective and all, you'd be a better liar."

"I'll prove it to you then. Shuffle and deal." She says, shoving the cards into his chest.

"Don't fancy making this strip, do you?"

"All in good time, Castle."

"You're killing me."

* * *

Beckett emerges from the bathroom in a cloud of steam. She's definitely warmed up now. That was by far the best shower she's ever had. She's never really been one to admire the rich, especially since she grew up in a relatively well-off family, but damn. It might not be total and complete happiness, but money can buy something pretty close.

After grabbing her underwear off the heating vent, she quickly throws the warm clothes on, melting into the way-too-big sweatshirt. It smells like him, and its fluffy insides make it all the more delicious. She roughly scrubs the towel through her hair one final time before placing it back on the rack in the bathroom. Running her hands through her short dark locks, she pushes it back from her face. This will have to do. It's not like she has any of her make-up or hair products here anyway.

Before she can help herself, Beckett opens the medicine cabinet. Band-Aids, hair gel, some kind of medication for pain relief, condoms. Normal. At least she knows he's not hiding some biological secret now. She quickly takes an extra look at the condoms – Regular. Large. She smiles. At least she knows why Kate looks so happy and relaxed.

Slipping out of his bathroom, she decides his bedroom isn't worth a snoop – it looks to be just his bed and a chest of drawers. There's nothing especially grand about it, but she loves it. There's something very comfortable and warm about it.

Beckett exits the room, and finds Rick sitting on his desk chair in the study. He smiles when he sees her.

"That looks a lot better on you than it does on me." He comments.

"I feel like I'm drowning in wool."

"It looks very cute." He tells her. "Want to brave the storm? I think it's calmed down a bit."

Just as he says that, another crack of thunder causes the building to vibrate.

"Is that so?" Beckett teases.

"Yes, well I'm not a weatherman for a reason."

Beckett laughs, but stops when she notices Rick looks a little disappointed.

"You want to see her, don't you?"

He looks up at her, and laughs softly. "Yeah. That obvious, huh?"

"Just a bit."

She tilts her head as she studies him for a moment. "Are we really that different, me and her?"

"What makes you ask that?"

"Well, if we were the same, why would you miss her? I'm right here." She doesn't mean for it to sound as accusatory as it does, but hurt somehow bleeds into her tone.

She knows he hears it when his face grows a little more serious.

"I just have been through more with her. I know her completely, as she does me. I love you, Beckett. I really do, but you don't love me yet. She's lighter, more carefree than you. Stronger in her self-assurance. She's everything you are and will be. She's you, just not yet. Don't forget that you're not different people."

He thinks she's going to feel insecure and upset with his answer, but her hands are on the lapels of his jacket and when did she get so close? She tugs him forward, pushing her body into his and doesn't waste a moment before putting her lips on his.

**:)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

**Sorry for the delay – real life has been very busy. Hopefully this makes up for it!**

**Your reviews were really interesting to read! I don't consider kissing your future boyfriend to be cheating (not that I'll ever have to test that out hopefully) and I feel like lots of you are the same, while others are not. To those worrying – fear not! And to those like me, let's have a party.**

**Thanks again to my lovely Beta, Thay.**

Rick is stunned in position as Beckett's hands roughly hold his body close, her lips not yet moving over his, waiting for his response. It's like his mind has frozen from the surprise, the sudden intimacy with this person he knows _so_ thoroughly, and yet doesn't know as anything more than an uptight stickler from his memory of this version of her.

Beckett has pushed her lips to his harshly, and can feel his surprise through the lack of response. She brings her hand up under his chin in an effort to encourage him into a passionate kiss, but instead she finds the feeling of his heartbeat thrumming against the palm of her hand under slight stubble and soft skin to render her movements and desires loving instead of intense. She releases the lapel of his jacket from her other hand, slowly skimming it around his waist to bring her whole body in line with his as she softens the kiss. He still hasn't made any movement, but as she withdraws for a moment and then recaptures his bottom lip in a sensual nip she feels his hands come to her waist.

The change in the mood of the kiss allows Rick's brain to unfreeze, and the familiarity of the loving way in which she curls herself around him and softly brings her lips to his sees him respond in his usual way. His hands, which were stuck in the air on the sides of Beckett's body, find the softness of her sweatshirt - that's really _his_ sweatshirt - and rest at her hipbones.

When she feels him begin to kiss her back, Beckett moves her hand resting underneath his chin around the back of his neck, curling her arm around his head and hoisting herself up higher. She was only going to go for a closed mouth, five second long kiss; something quick and sweet, but she can't resist opening her mouth to him and drawing him in closer. There's something in the kiss, in the way she can feel how much he loves her and how bright this future with him will be that leaves her eager to jump ahead and skip the pain and the waiting and just live this life with him solving cases.

"Rick," she breathes into his mouth softly, ready to entwine his tongue with hers.

But suddenly he's gone. His hands aren't at her waist and his lips aren't on hers, and the air against her face suddenly feels cold. She opens her eyes to see him retreating, already five steps back from her.

"I'm sorry." He says. "I shouldn't have done that."

"No…" She says quietly, taking a step towards him in comfort.

He reacts quickly, taking a large jump back and putting his hands in front of his body.

"Please, don't. This isn't right. It's not fair to you and Kate will kill me for trying anything."

"You didn't try anything, I did." Beckett says.

"I know, but I responded. You caught me off guard, and the familiarity of it threw me. I'm sorry, Beckett."

"Why are you apologising to me? I kissed you. You didn't do anything wrong. Kate and I are the same. I'll be her in four years. What's so wrong with an early kiss?"

"Because…" Rick falters, then says quietly. "Our first kiss should be our first kiss. And maybe it would be different if I were the only one back here, but Kate's here too. It just doesn't feel right to kiss anyone else."

"I'm not anyone else, Rick. I am Kate. Do you think I'm trying to set myself to be cheated on? That I would make my boyfriend cheat on me? I'm Kate."

Rick takes a breath, letting some rigidity out of his posture. He takes a few steps towards her.

"I know you're Kate." He says with a soft smile. "But you're not my Kate yet, and you should wait. It'll be better if you wait."

"I'm just going to forget anyway. Our first kiss will still be our first kiss." Beckett says, almost in a reassuring sort of way.

"Maybe so, but I need you to trust me. You may be Kate, but you're mistaken if you think she won't be mad about this."

Beckett stays silent for a moment. She tries to imagine herself in four years, being with Castle, coming back in time, and finding out her past self kissed him. Would she be mad? It was a hard question to answer without the obvious bias. She's never been very good at seeing past her current need or desire, whether it comes to work or her personal life.

"I'm not some baby the two of you need to protect." Beckett tells him, her strong cop defence kicking in. "I'm 29 and a homicide detective. I'm the person you met and were drawn to for the way I do my job. I might not know as much about myself as the two of you do, but I don't need to be protected."

"You're right." Rick says, bringing his hands to her forearms. "But you're ridiculous if you think I was only drawn to you by the way you do your job."

He flashes her one of those completely Richard Castle smirks, and strolls out of the study.

Beckett can't help but shake her head and smile after him.

"Come on." He shouts to her. "It's still raining but there's no more thunder or lightning. Might as well brave the storm now."

Beckett huffs, and quickly gathers up her wet clothes from the bathroom and runs into the living room to meet him.

"Here, don't worry about those." Rick says as he takes the sopping pile of cotton from her hands. "I'll put them in the dryer. You can come get them later."

"Okay." Beckett says, running her hands through her still damp locks.

He's back out of the laundry in a flash, and holding the front door open for her.

"Just try not to jump me in the car. I know the rain can make me look pretty sexy."

Beckett scoffs and rolls her eyes as she walks out the door, almost as though her feelings on Richard Castle have reset to the way they were twenty-four hours ago.

* * *

"You're bluffing."

"I am not."

"Yes, you are."

"You're right, I am."

"You are?'

"No."

Kate huffs. "You're infuriating."

"You're cute when you're angry." Castle replies.

Kate can't help but give a small smile. "Not the first time you've told me that."

Castle replicates her smile. "I'm sure. Are you honestly telling me that after four years we've never played poker together, and you can't tell when I'm bluffing?"

"No, we've played plenty of times." Kate tells him. "But you're just as infuriating in the future as you are now, and every time I figure out when you're bluffing you start playing poker as if you were some character so your tells I've taken the time to learn change. First it was Derek Storm, then it was James Bond, then Bruce Wayne, then the Queen of England. Your English accent is terrible, especially coupled with the high pitch to imitate a female voice."

Castle laughs. "I am a genius."

"More like a child."

"Could a child write 26 best sellers?"

Kate just rolls her eyes.

"Speaking of which, how many more books have I written? Does Nikki sell well?" Castle asks with arrogance, as though he already knows how popular they are.

"You've written three. They do okay." She says shortly.

"Please, they're huge and I know it."

"No, you don't know it."

"I do." He nods his head, eyes closing as he smiles. "Who could resist reading about you?"

"I am not Nikki Heat."

"Come on, are you still saying that? I would have thought you'd got over that by now."

"I'm not denying that she's based on me or my work, but it takes Rook all of one hundred pages to get into Nikki's pants. It takes you three books and three years."

"So what you're saying is, she's you, but a less slutty version of you."

Kate throws a pillow at him.

"No, I see. Want to keep the classy lady act going, Miss Beckett. I saw you on that couch before. You're not fooling me."

"You hardly saw anything."

Castle raises her eyebrows at her, amused. Kate cringes.

"I didn't mean it like that."

Castle laughs. "Sure you didn't."

Kate puts down her cards, picking herself up from the floor.

"I'm going to have a drink while we wait for them. Don't want to talk to you anymore."

"Oh, Kaaate." Castle fake whines. "You know you're having fun. But if you want to let me win, that's fine."

"I might as well. It's one of the only times you ever will." She says as her voice gets quieter as she enters the kitchen area.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that." He shouts to her.

"Castle, shoosh! Grace is asleep." Kate berates him, sticking her head back into the room.

"Right. Sorry." He whispers before picking himself up off the ground to join her.

He finds her staring out the window at the heavy rain, watching the cars drive into the hotel entrance below.

"They'll be here soon." He tells her.

"Hope so." She says quietly as she turns to open the fridge.

Castle notices the sincerity in her eyes when she speaks.

"Seriously? I'm right here. You can't miss him _that_ much. Besides, you saw him a few hours ago."

"Spending the last few hours with you has made me realise how much less of an annoyance Rick has grown to be."

"Ouch. That hurts." Castle fakes. "Please tell me we aren't those people who can't be apart from each other because I'm a man, and sometimes I have to do manly things."

Kate looks at him sideways for a moment. "Like what, chop down a tree and chug some beers with the boys?"

Castle purses his lips.

"Yes." He says dramatically. "And you know, I have to read my comics and play poker with my writer buddies."

"Oh, you're right. So manly." She teases. "And don't worry. I need my time as well, Castle. In the short time you've known me have I ever struck you as the clingy type?"

"Definitely not. If anything, I think you need to be a bit more clingy."

"Yeah, it's not the first time you've told me that either." Kate says as she begins to pour two wine glasses.

Castle notices the slight shift in mood from friendly teasing to a quiet friendliness.

"I'm sure if anyone's clingy in our relationship, it's me." He tells her softly.

She looks up and smiles at him. "Don't be so sure, Castle. It makes it much easier for you to be wrong."

She hands him a wine glass, not bothering to ask if he actually wants a drink. She knows he does.

"I'd be happy to be wrong forever if you were always the one proving me so."

Her eyes connect with his, and she sees the future Rick Castle shining brightly in them.

"That's a good line for a book." She says with a sly smile.

"Thank God you said so, I was totally thinking the exact same thing." He says.

Kate laughs heartily.

"It's nice to hear you laugh. The most I've got out of you so far is a smile which you are always too quick to cover up."

"Yeah, well, you're not as funny as you think you are."

"That's definitely not it." Castle says with a corresponding hand gesture. "I've probably trained you to get a better sense of humour."

"Are you saying I was a humourless bore before I met you?"

"Not at all. I'm saying you're ability to recognise hilarity was quite less adapted before you met me, because let's face it, not many people are as funny as I am."

"I'd tell you to keep telling yourself that because then you might start to believe it, but I see you already do."

Castle shrugs, confirming her statement.

"Tell me honestly though – what do you think of me now? Beckett, I mean. What do you think of her?" She asks.

"I think she's the most fascinating person I've ever met, and I'm not quite sure if I'm ever going to quite figure her out."

"_I thought you were a mystery I was never going to solve."_

Rick's words ring in Kate's ears, and its one of those moments when she's reminded of why their story is good enough for a series of books to be written about.

"I wouldn't worry. She's not that complicated at the end of the day."

Castle shakes his head at her. "Then four years still hasn't changed the fact that you completely underestimate yourself, Kate Beckett. You're all class."

She smiles at his reference to the earlier part of their conversation.

"I'm not _all_ class." She whispers in what should be a teasing way, but instead comes out more like a promise for the future.

Just as he smiles back at her, there's a knock on the door.

* * *

Just as they are pulling up the hotel, a car driving next to them sprays their taxi with a huge fan of water as it turns. Beckett startles as the water hits the window closest to her with a harsh sound, causing her to grab Rick's hand.

"Seriously. Told you the rain makes me sexy."

She quickly removes her hand. "You looked like a drowned dog."

He doesn't. He looks exactly how he says he looks, and she knows it.

The taxi pulls to a stop outside the hotel and Rick quickly pays the driver. They run inside the lobby, unable to avoid getting totally drenched again despite only being without cover for a few seconds.

"Harry!" Rick says, seeing his friend behind the front desk. "Mind sending up some towels and warm blankets? Maybe even some pyjamas from the gift shop if you can? Just put it on the bill."

"No problem, Mr Castle." Harry says, slightly confused. He could have sworn Mr Castle and his friend had gone up to their room a couple of hours ago, and he hadn't seen them come back down.

"Oh, and some chocolate." Rick adds.

Beckett throws him a strange look.

"For Kate." He says and she rolls her eyes.

"You two are really mushy. It's kind of disgusting." She says as they get in the elevator.

"It's funny. Castle said the same thing when I was on the phone to Kate earlier."

Beckett scrunches up her nose. Her and Castle are more like each other than their future selves, regarding this at least. She's not sure what to make of that. A shiver down her spine reminds her that it's not the time to care about that. She just needs warmth now.

They make it to the top floor finally and quickly knock on the door.

Within seconds, they are greeted by Castle's smiling face.

"Woah, glad we didn't swap places with you guys!" He says, observing their dripping forms.

"Let us in." Beckett says as she pushes past him.

"Kate." Rick says with relief in his voice as he sees her. "I'm glad you're okay."

"You too." She smiles back at him.

He cups her cheek, not wanting to hug her while he's so wet.

"Let's get you out of those clothes." Kate says.

"Ooh Kate, I know I'm irresistible but at least wait until our kid selves are out of the room."

She hits him in the chest. "You know it's hard to convince our kid selves that you've changed at all when you keep making comments like that."

"Well, I haven't changed _that_ much. Let's be honest."

Kate looks into his eyes for a moment. "I suppose that's true. My perception of you has changed more than anything."

He smiles at her. "Well, your former self thinks I'm just as sexy soaking wet as you do. So I suppose some perceptions haven't changed either."

Beckett's cheeks burn red and she feels Castle's gaze turn on her.

"Really?" He sing-songs with a big smile.

"What does that mean?" Kate questions with a look of confusion, now noting Beckett's attire. Her smile fades. She knows that sweatshirt.

Beckett shoots Rick a look that is begging 'Please, not in front of Castle', but Rick doesn't know how to get out of it.

"Well, it seems you did convince her that there were some changes in me. Or I did while we were trapped in the storage closet."

"Please shut up." Beckett spits.

"You were trapped in a storage closet?" Castle asks. "Man, we were in a giant room. Could've got a bit more up close and personal I imagine."

Castle's just teasing them, but when he notices the awkward exchange of glances between the two Kate's and his future self his smile fades.

"Wait, you actually did get more up close and personal?" He asks. Suddenly it's not seeming so funny. Why did he care that Beckett may have done something with his future self? It is him, after all. He should be jumping for joy. But something irks him about it.

"No." Rick says. "Not in the storage closet."

Kate steps back from Rick, staring up at him questioningly.

"Then where did you get up close and personal?"

Rick winces and Beckett stares at the floor. Suddenly she realises the answers to those questions she had been asking herself before. Yes, she definitely would not like to hear that her former self had kissed her current boyfriend.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

**Thanks again to everybody for being lovely!**

**Thank you, Thay.**

Well, this is not good.

Rick can almost feel Kate's stare piercing through his skin, as if it's going to saw and cut and chop away slowly until she starts getting the information she wants out of him. He doesn't know what to do. Beckett will be mortified if he straight up gives her the truth right here in front of Castle, but Kate might murder him if he refuses to speak and he rather likes his life. Well, he liked it five minutes ago.

"Castle," Kate says, forgetting the rule to call him Rick while they were here. "Tell me what happened."

"Yeah. Tell us." The Young Castle pipes in.

Rick looks back at Beckett, his mouth moving without sound coming out. She's completely flustered, eyes darting side to side as she looks down at the floor.

She looks up at him for what is supposed to only be for a moment, to gauge his reaction and try and anticipate his response, but instead finds his eyes looking at her pleadingly and she can't look back down. Beckett realises how unfair she's being. She was the one who kissed him when he told her this would happen, and that she should wait, but she was too damn impatient, too stubborn to listen. She needed to be the one to tell Kate and Castle, as utterly humiliating as it might be. It was the right thing to do.

"It was my fault." Beckett splutters out.

Kate's head snaps in her direction.

"What do you mean?"

"I kissed him. He didn't do anything wrong. He was the one who said it was a bad idea and that I should just wait and that you'd be upset. It's all my fault. Please don't blame him. I'm so sorry."

Beckett's words almost run into one another.

Castle's jaw drops, nose scrunched up in exaggerated horror.

"WHAT?!"

Kate takes a step back, blinking slowly, then puts two fingers to her lips as she formulates a reply.

"You kissed." She says.

Kate tries to look over at Rick and finds that he is no longer beside her, but behind her. She tries to turn slightly to look at him but he moves with her. When she tries again and the same thing happens she realises what he's doing.

"Don't hide from me!"

"I'm not!"

"I'm not the bad guy here. You are the ones who kissed!" Kate says, trying to contain her anger.

"Please. It really is my fault. I sort of attacked him, and he said it was wrong. Please, if you're going to be angry, you should be angry with me."

"_I'm_ angry with you!" Castle says, finally allowing his bottom and top lips to meet again. "I'm right here! You could've attacked me!"

Beckett slightly shakes her head. "Castle, can I deal with you later? Right now, they're more important."

"They are us! I am him! I am included in the they, as are you. That's why I'm mad!"

Beckett resists the urge to growl. "Would you please just listen to me this _one _time? I swear to God, you're the most infuriating person."

"I'm infuriating? I'm not the one who went kissing her future boyfriend, setting me up for some bad times in a few years!"

They're voices overlap and get louder and louder.

"Oh, so you think kissing me will be a bad time?"

"No! That's my point!"

"Both of you shut up!" Kate yells, causing Rick behind her to wince in fear. "Stop screaming at each other. We are going to get ourselves kicked out of the hotel."

Beckett and Castle stay silent, both of their chests heaving and nostrils flared, glaring at one another.

"Just tell us what happened." Kate says calmly after a deep breath. "From the beginning."

Beckett makes eye contact with Rick, and despite knowing it should be her who speaks, that it's her mistake to fix, she can't help but silently beg him to answer for her.

Rick sees her pained question in her eyes, and hangs his head for a moment before speaking.

"After I spoke to you on the phone Kate, Beckett showed up at my apartment." He begins. "As you know, there's a storm outside so she was soaking wet and I quickly got her some towels so she could get dry. When I put one around her something weird happened."

"Something weird?" Castle asks. "What, her tongue fell into your mouth? Seriously man, the writing skills are slipping."

"No!" Rick reacts quickly. "Shut up, would you? No, it was just like a weird moment. One I never had with Beckett when I was with her in this time."

"When you were me." Castle states.

"Exactly." Rick affirms.

Castle's pinches his eyes in hurt for a moment, before shaking it off. He can't quite compose himself though, and a look of distaste still etches into his face as he listens to his future self.

"What do you mean, a weird moment?" Kate asks.

"You know, like the ones we have had. Like in the hotel room in LA or after you found me in the bank last year."

Beckett and Castle look at each other in confusion, not knowing what they were referring to. Beckett was getting the feeling she was going to have a lot of almost kisses with Castle in the next few years though.

"So, you mean, a loving moment." Kate says.

"Eh." Rick brings both of his hands up, acting as though they are scales shifting weight between them. "More like a sexual chemistry sort of moment."

Kate raises her eyebrows.

"That's how you classify LA and the bank? _Sexual chemistry_ moments?"

_Shit,_ Rick thinks. _Dug yourself into a fantastic hole here. Want a shovel? It'll get her to break up with you sooner._

"No! That's not what I meant." He takes a breath.

"All this time I've been thinking those were the moments in which we fell in love but apparently, we just wanted to fuck."

Beckett and Castle raise their shoulders in unison, reacting like kids in the presence of their parents who were so angry that they forget to censor their swearing. Not good.

"Kate, don't be like that."

"Please, Kate. It's not his fault. Be angry with me." Beckett urges her.

"Oh, don't worry, I am!" Kate says. "But he's the one I'm in a relationship with so I want to know what happened from him."

"Kate." Rick says softly, bringing his hand up under her elbow to try and calm her.

When she tries to pull away, he holds on tighter.

"Please, listen to me."

Rick pulls her in, and she fights it for a moment until she sees his eyes desperately trying to connect with hers. He feels the moment she stops resisting instantly, quickly taking advantage of it and pulling her all the way in, arm around her waist, forehead pressed to hers.

"Kate." He repeats in a whisper. "I love you, and I loved you far before we went to LA. You know that."

She takes a deep breath. "I do."

"Please don't turn this into something it doesn't have to be. I know it sounds weird, and it is. But let Beckett and I just explain what actually happened and then you can react however you like."

Kate nods, her nose bumping his repeatedly as she does.

He knows her too well at this point. Knows she takes small things and blows them up into big issues as a result of years of keeping people at arm's length. A well-developed protective mechanism, if you will. He had become so good, especially since they got together, at seeing past it and not letting her anger get the best of him. He saw that she was just frightened, and that she just wanted to love and be loved in return.

Castle and Beckett silently watch, feeling quite awkward as they watch their future selves tenderly mend a rift while they continue to stand next to each other fuming.

"Okay, you had a weird moment. Then, what? You kissed?" Kate asks in a much less aggressive tone than before, hand clamped around the front of Rick's shirt.

"No." Rick says. "I noticed what was happening and moved away. But then it sort of happened again, so I offered for Beckett to have a shower so that she could warm up and cool down at the same time."

If Beckett's cheeks weren't red before, they certainly are now. Castle can't help but chuckle slightly, despite the remnants of rage he still feels simmering in his stomach. Then suddenly, the rage is back in force.

"Oh, please don't tell me you made out in the shower."

Beckett almost chokes on her own saliva. "No!"

Now it's Kate's turn to smile faintly, tapping on Rick's shoulder to let him know to continue the story.

"I gave her some warm clothes to change into once she got out, being the gentleman I am, which is why you see her dressed in my attire." Rick says. "I waited in my study for her to come out and when she did, I don't even know. She just attacked me. I must've been looking especially sexy or something."

Beckett looks at Rick in horror.

_What the fuck is he doing? He is only going to make them more mad by turning it into a joke!_

However, Beckett hears the sound of her own laugh start to echo around the room, and soon both Castle's deeper ones join in. She feels a wave of embarrassment crash over her.

_This is even worse than them being mad._

"Shut up. That is such a lie!"

"That is not a lie!" Rick says, almost offended. "That's what happened! I told you the outfit was cute, and that I missed Kate, and then you were on my face!"

Kate feels the remaining anger slip out of her, each small jolt of her body resulting from the laughter making her more and more amused by the situation. After all, she knows herself. And while she may have been able to resist Castle for all those years, she knows she wouldn't have been able to if she had known this was where things would end up. All she had to do was look at the first few months of their relationship. As soon as the seal had been broken on the envelope containing the way they felt about one another, she hadn't been able to resist him. When she was on suspension, there had been many meals wasted from being left burning on the stove, and when they had returned to work, it took all she had to wait until they got inside one of their apartments not to jump on him, touch him, kiss him, anything really. If she had known that they were going to be together in the end, she would have made her move a long time ago. She would have spared herself a lot of sleepless nights trying to convince herself that she didn't like him that way too, which turned into nights where she simply tried to contain her thoughts of him so she could get some sleep. How can she be mad at Castle for this? Kate knows how she can get when she wants something. Especially when she wants it from him.

Beckett's hiding in her hands.

"Shut up." She groans.

It only makes the others laugh harder, which causes the young detective to run into Kate and Rick's room and shut the door.

She face plants onto the bed. Normally, she would never do something like that on someone else's bed but she figures that this'll end up being her room anyway. Her room that she'll share with Castle. It's going to happen. Why couldn't she just wait? It would've been far less embarrassing.

In the living room, the others start to stop laughing.

"I should talk to her." Kate says, detaching herself from Rick.

"Wait," Castle says, stopping her. "Do you think I could go? You can talk to her afterwards, I promise."

Kate looks at him for a moment, trying to establish his reason for wanting to talk to her. She feels that her younger self has been embarrassed enough; she doesn't need him teasing her anymore. But when she sees the look in the Young Castle's eyes, she nods.

"Thanks." He says.

Castle knocks lightly on the door before twisting the handle.

"Beckett." He says as her enters, smiling when he sees her face down on the bed. "Beckett, come on. It's okay."

She removes her face from the blankets to look at him harshly.

"How is it okay? You're going to tease me about this forever."

"Ah, but you're forgetting that we'll never remember this." He tells her as he sits down beside her on the bed.

Beckett sits up. "At least there's that. But seriously, if you've just come in here to make more fun of me, please leave."

"I'm not." He says. "I just wanted to say sorry for getting mad at you earlier."

Beckett stiffens slightly at the unexpected words.

"I know I can be pretty irresistible at times. I shouldn't blame you for succumbing."

Beckett immediately falls back against the bed, groaning. "Get out."

"No, seriously." Castle says laughing. "I am sorry. I wasn't there, and I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I know that you're a private person, Beckett. You don't like to let people in and having someone before you who you knew was going to be somebody who was going to accept you wholeheartedly in the future must've been very hard to resist. Especially for someone like you."

Beckett's silent a moment. "What do you mean, someone like me?"

"Just that, because you close yourself off from people, when you do let them in, you must be quite passionate about it. I'm presuming at least. From what I've seen so far, you seem to have so much passion for the people you let yourself care about. Why else would you be a cop and have let your mother's murder impact your life the way it has?"

Beckett lets herself digest his words. She'd never really thought about herself in that light. She supposed it was his talent as an author, his craftsmanship with words, which made what he was saying seem so beautiful and profound. She knows it's his job to be good with words, and he would have used that talent to impress many girls many times before, but Beckett can't help but feel special that he's taken the time to notice her in the way in which he has.

"Yeah. I guess I do defend the people I care about pretty strongly." She says.

Castle notices the small frown that appears on her forehead after she speaks.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just," Beckett starts, tears brimming in her eyes. "I don't really have that many people who I really care for anymore. I have my dad, and there's Lanie and the boys but I even keep them at arm's length with a lot of things. Captain Montgomery's a good friend, but other than that I don't really have anyone. And it's my fault. I did this to myself. I push people away because I don't want to care about someone and then just have them drop off the face of the earth without ever getting to say goodbye."

Castle reaches up and rests his hands on her upper back. "Kate.."

Tears start to slide down her cheeks now.

"You know, when I was in high school, I had a lot of friends. I wasn't really popular but people liked me, you know? I never really had an enemy. I got on with most people. I had a big group of friends, and I was close with some of my cousins, and I could always really easily connect with people. Whether it was at the ice skating rink, or the waitressing job I had. I could have great conversations with people, and would get to know them so easily. I would let them know me so easily. My mother used to love that about me; she'd even warn me about being too trusting at times. She must be so disappointed in what I've done to my life."

"Kate, no." Castle says, sliding his hand down her arm and linking his fingers with hers. "She would be so proud of you. Look at all you've achieved at your age. The youngest woman to ever make detective at the NYPD. You've put so many bad guys away, and everybody who loves you, even if they are few in number, all have the best things to say. Even the people who just know you have the best things to say. There's a reason I chose you as my inspiration for my next book, and it has to do with a lot more than the fact that you look hot while cuffing people."

Beckett laughs through the tears. Castle reaches up and wipes one away with his thumb, splaying the rest of his fingers down the side of her face.

"Your mum would understand that you can't just walk away unaffected by something so big happening to you. I'm sure she just wants you to be happy. And the moments you choose to let people in, despite how scared you are about doing it, those are the moments she will be the most proud because she'll understand the strength it will take for you to do that. And that strength might not have existed in the Kate Beckett who graduated college with two living parents and then went on to get married and work as some high profile socialite."

Beckett smiles, and Castle can feel her muscles contract through his hand on her cheek.

"I wanted to be a lawyer, actually."

"There you go. Lawyer Beckett isn't nearly as tough sounding as Detective Beckett."

Eyes still filled with tears, Beckett gives him the brightest smile she can. "Thank you, Castle."

"You're welcome. It's all true."

She surprises him then, because suddenly her arms are around his neck and her head is resting against his shoulder and she's squeezing him.

He quickly brings his arms around her waist and reciprocates.

"You know, being with you might not be so bad after all."

Castle smiles into her hair.

"Do you think we could get that in writing and hide it in a place for you to find in a few years? I think I might end up needing it."

Beckett laughs into his shoulder, but she doesn't move away.

**No cliffhanger this time! Hope you felt the shift in the Castle/Beckett relationship to be natural, I think it was time for her to realise that he's actually a cutie when you get down to it.**

**Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

**I've said it before but I'll say it again – you're all so nice! Thank you so much.**

**Thay, you're amazing.**

"So?"

"So what?"

"What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Oh, stop it Castle. You know exactly what. The kiss. What was it like?"

Kate raises her eyebrow at her boyfriend, a crooked smile on her lips.

Rick goes to speak but then stops.

"I'm very unsure about how to answer this question."

"Just tell me what it was like."

"But if I say it was good, then you might get mad at me for enjoying it when it wasn't with the current you. And if I say it was bad, then you might get mad at me for telling you your past self's kissing skills need improvement."

Kate rolls her eyes. "I won't get mad, Castle. I just want to know."

Rick's still pretty unsure but knows he isn't getting out of answering the question.

"It was…good. Very similar to the way you kiss now."

"Very similar? What's different?"

"I don't know. I guess she was more aggressive than you are, generally speaking. Like it was more physical than emotional. She kissed me for the purpose of kissing me, not to show me she cared about me. Maybe a little to show me she didn't mind me all that much, but mostly no."

Rick tried not to grimace as he studied Kate's reaction. She tilted her head back slightly from him, eyes darting side to side as she looked into his, then she smiled. He let out a breath.

"Good answer."

"Scary question."

She smiles at his words.

"We shouldn't have been so harsh with her. She's so embarrassed." Rick says, gesturing to the closed door of their bedroom where Castle and Beckett remain.

"She'll be fine. When she's trying to go to sleep tonight, it will replay over in her mind and she'll want to die from the embarrassment while she tries to think of something else to make her fall asleep, but then she'll forget all of this ever happened. Doesn't have to live with the torturous aftermath of a humiliating moment."

Rick hums. "Yeah, I think I would have had so much more sleep if I could just forget all the times I've made a fool of myself over the years."

Kate gives him a sideways glance.

"Castle, if that were true, you would never sleep. And I've seen you sleep."

"Ah, you are thinking about what you find embarrassing about me, not what I found embarrassing about myself. Very different. If I had the same mentality as you, I would be a certified insomniac."

"So, what? You're saying that you're a much more secure person than I am?"

"No, I'm saying that I don't care about acting like an idiot in front of people in the same way that you do."

"Well, I can't deny you that." Kate says, sitting down on the couch with a sigh.

"You okay?" Rick asks as her sits down next to her.

"Yeah. Just tired." She replies as she folds her legs into her chest and leans herself against him. "It's been a long day."

It was strange how all this had taken place in the space of about sixteen hours. This morning, when Kate met her past self, feels like it was days ago already.

"I'm sorry about the kiss, Kate." Rick whispers into her hair.

She smiles.

"Don't be. It was me who initiated it, remember?"

"I still shouldn't have let it happen."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Castle. She is me, after all."

"She's you, but you're not her anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, every part of her is still in you, but you've added a lot of new things in the last four years. You're everything she is, but you have more. That's all you can really hope for as you get older, isn't it? That you don't lose any part of yourself, you just add more things."

"Yeah, I suppose. I've never really thought about it like that before." She smiles softly into his chest.

"Yeah. It is pretty good, isn't it? Remind me of that when we get home, I should write it down for my next book."

"You're an idiot." She laughs playing with the buttons on his shirt. "I hope they get out of there soon. I'm so tired."

"Maybe they're getting it on." Rick jokes.

They both laugh but it turns to sounds of disgust as they realise how horrible that would actually be. They look at each other with clenched teeth.

"They wouldn't." Kate says.

"Definitely not."

The couple looks towards the bedroom door, silence filling the apartment.

"Yeah, definitely not." Rick repeats. "You make a lot of noise."

"_I_ make a lot of noise?" Kate almost wants to laugh.

"You're actually trying to deny that you're loud?"

"No, but I'm saying that you're definitely louder."

"Absolutely inaccurate information right there. Women are always louder."

"They are not! Maybe all the girls before me were putting on a show for the great Richard Castle, so they could keep using his wallet and he could keep his ego."

"Again, so inaccurate. You have first hand proof of that."

"You're still louder."

"You're still wrong."

"We need the room back."

* * *

Beckett's brain is telling her that her head has been resting on Castle's shoulder far too long, that her arms should've removed themselves from around his waist by now, but the usually sensible detective can't seem to help letting her heart win out this time. She turns her face into his shoulder, breathing in a mix of cologne and musk. It brings a feeling of comfort that spreads throughout her body, softening her muscles from her shoulders to her calves. She feels him run a hand down her back, and just before he hits anything too inappropriate, it makes its way back up. She knows it's time to detach herself from him, because it's late and the others are probably wondering what they are doing and wanting their room, but she can't help taking in one final breath and squeezing him a little tighter before she unwraps herself.

He smiles that purely innocent, loving Castle smile that doesn't have a trace of charm or mockery held within it.

"You good?" He asks.

"Yeah." She gives him a soft smile in return and lifts herself off the bed. "Thank you, Castle."

"Anytime." He winks, because he's Castle and he can't help bringing the light-heartedness back.

"You know what's weird? This is actually our room." Beckett says, running a finger along the bed sheets.

"Everything about this day has been weird, and like most of it, the fact that this is our room is the best kind of weird."

She laughs and reaches for the handle of the bedroom door.

Beckett and Castle are greeted with the sight of their older counterparts sitting on the couch, laughing with one another.

"When are you going to learn that you will never win an argument against me?"

"Never, because I've won plenty against you before."

"Name one."

"Hey, sorry to interrupt." Beckett says. "You can have your room back now. It's time we headed home anyway."

Rick and Kate immediately give the two their full attention once they realise their presence.

"Headed home…separately?" Rick asks, almost afraid of the answer.

Beckett's left eyebrow almost hits her hairline.

"Oh God, obviously." She says.

"Well, not really obviously if they had to ask the question." Castle smiles.

Rick and Kate both give sighs of relief.

"So, everything's okay?" Kate asks, directing the question at her younger self.

Beckett nods.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Beckett asks, grabbing Kate's arm and pulling her into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Kate says with worry. "What happened in the room?"

"No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed Rick. I wasn't thinking about you, I was thinking about me and I got caught up in thinking we were the same person that I didn't stop and wonder how you'd react."

Kate gives her young self a light laugh. "We are the same person. It's okay. I _literally_ would have done the same thing. Or did do."

Beckett laughs then. "Right. Oh God, that's weird. We have the same body. You were once me standing here talking to you."

Kate shivers. "I know. Especially strange seeing as I don't remember this at all, but a few things are clearer to me now."

Beckett frowns. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see." Kate winks, going to leave the kitchen.

"Kate, can I just ask one more thing?"

"Sure."

"Do you think mom would be proud of you?"

Kate sees the tears prickling behind the younger detective's eyes and she knows what she's thinking.

"Yeah, you know, for the first time in a long time, I do. I always thought that she'd be so mad that I'd made my life what it was, that I wasn't letting myself just be happy. But I think now that I'm letting my life extend beyond the job, I can see that she'd be okay with where I am and what I've done. She would have loved that I put bad guys away."

Beckett smiles. "Yeah, she would have. Sometimes I think that if she were alive she would've wanted to buddy up and defend the victims of my cases in court. She would have totally embarrassed me. Everyone would know I was Johanna's daughter."

"It'd be a running joke around the New York justice system." Kate nods with a smile, recalling many times where she'd had the exact same thoughts. "I'm glad I got to meet you, Kate. I don't think I realised how much my life had changed since I was you, and I should have."

"Yeah, you should have. You're really lucky."

"We are." Kate smiles, looping her arm through Beckett's and walking them back into the living room.

They find the two Castles staring at the screen of Rick's phone with goofy smiles.

"This was Alexis on her graduation." Rick says, swiping his finger across the iPhone. "And this was her first day of college. Her roommate's a Patterson fan but we forgive her because she lets Alexis borrow her shoes."

"When you guys are done fawning over your daughter, Castle can take Beckett home." Kate interrupts.

"Ooh, this is us at my birthday party this year." Rick ignores her, showing Castle the photo before turning it towards Beckett so she can see too.

It's a fairly close up photo of her, Castle, and Alexis, all dressed up. Castle's in the middle beaming, his arms around his girls, with Kate's head leaning against his shoulder and Alexis seems to have been caught mid-laugh by the camera. She's beautiful, Beckett thinks, noting the growth of the young redhead. It looks like a family photo.

It hits Beckett low and hard in the stomach; similar to the feeling you get when you're eighteen and it hits you that you're an adult now, even though it's something you've always known would happen. It was always in the back of your mind, sitting there, a thought that was never really thought about, but the moment you did you could practically taste your heart in your mouth. She hadn't thought about Alexis, or Martha, or any of the things that came with being in a relationship with Castle even though she knew they would be there. She'd been so focused on the fact that they were confiding in each other and having sex and holding hands that she'd overlooked that she was stepping into a life, a family. A place where she would be relied upon by people other than just herself or her dad. Not for work, or because it was morally right, but because she would care about them and they would care about her. She would make a decision to get wrapped up in other people's lives because she was so sure of a future with him that she wouldn't have to fear leaving. Or at least, she would risk that because of how much she loved him, and wanted that future. The idea was foreign and frightening, but alluring and warm; a moth to a flame, hoping that this light wouldn't cause its death.

"Alexis is beautiful." Is all Beckett can choke out.

Rick gives her a brilliant smile and agrees.

"Are you close with her?" Beckett asks Kate.

For the first time since they've met, Beckett sees her older-self falter slightly when asked a question about her life with Rick.

"She's a great girl, and I care about her very much, but we haven't had much one on one time." Kate says, looking saddened, like she was having her own eighteen moment.

"There's plenty of time for that." Rick says with a smile, throwing his arm around Kate's waist and pushing Castle to the door. "Get her home, it's late. We'll meet you here in the morning before we go back."

"Okay." Beckett says. "Goodnight."

"Night." Kate replies, a soft smile bringing some light back into her face before it disappears behind the thick hotel room door.

Beckett and Castle don't move, both staring at the door.

"I could almost swear I dreamt this entire day." Castle says. "And that's saying something, coming from me."

"I know what you mean. I wish we didn't have to forget." Beckett says, slightly exasperated.

"Ah, but that's the most crucial part of all detective – if we don't forget, we won't be them, and I'd like for us to be them."

He smiles at her then, and she knows exactly what he's implying, and she can't help but reciprocate.

"Me too."

**I think I only have about two more chapters left in this story but thank you so much to everyone for continuing to read despite my sporadic updates. I will definitely continue writing after this is over thanks to the wonderful responses you've all given me!**


End file.
